The Extended Family
by Awesomely Anonymous
Summary: The sequel to 'The Shepard Family'. Basically how Jenny and Jethro copes with living with Jenny's crazy sisters and nieces. I promise more family drama!
1. Back Again

Author's Note: Lo and behold, the sequel to The Shepard Family! I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this up, but I really had trouble with how to start the story. Anyway, I really hope you like it!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

"Adalina! Wake up you pig!" said Ariele loudly, thumping on Adalina's sleeping form with a pillow.

Adalina rolled away from Ariele's reach, groaning loudly.

"Lina, wake up!"

"Don't wanna," mumbled Adalina sleepily into her pillow.

A minute later, Heather appeared at the door.

"Adalina Mary Shepard, if you do not get your ass _out _of this bedroom in three seconds, I can assure you that _when _you wake up, your precious Martin guitar will be in the fireplace." Said Heather sternly.

Adalina sat bolt upright and walked robotically out of the room, ignoring her mother's smirk. They were getting ready to go back to Washington today, after collecting the rest of their clothes. Their flight was leaving in another three hours, and it was a one and a half hour drive to the airport, so they were running out of time.

"Ariele! What are you doing in there? It's been thirty minutes!" shouted Lina from outside the bathroom.

"Just wait a minute!"

Heather rolled her eyes and sat down in front of her make up mirror, grumbling about unprepared teenagers. She was just putting on lipstick when Ariele shouted, "Lina! Give me back my Wonderstruck perfume!"

Heather sighed and banged her head on the makeup table.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"Jade, are you okay?" called Amelia, standing outside her sister's bedroom.

She had gotten up an hour earlier just to get ready for their flight. They were Heather and the twins soon, and Jade was still changing.

"Yes, why do you ask?" shouted Jade through the bedroom.

"Well then, hurry the hell up." Said Amelia, ignoring Jade's question. "Heather's just texted me. They are leaving the house already."

Jade grumbled and walked out of the room.

"She's _always_ late, Amelia. I don't know _why _you bother to wake up early."

"Well, Jenny helped me put a GPS tracker on her phone two weeks ago, before we left. She's leaving her house now." Said Amelia, studying the map on her phone.

Jade took her phone out of her pocket and narrowed her eyes at Amelia. She studied her phone carefully.

"Don't worry, we didn't bug your phone." Assured Amelia. Jade looked relieved.

They walked to the kitchen together, Amelia behind Jade. Amelia poured two glasses of wine for each of them, and handed one to Jade.

"Since you always forget your phone when you come back from your one night stands, we thought it would be unreliable if we bugged your phone." Said Amelia calmly. "You never did seem to forget your bra or panties, so we bugged all your underwear."

Amelia smirked as Jade coughed and spluttered.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"Where the _hell _are they?" said Heather impatiently, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "They're fifteen minutes late."

"Well, sorry Heather, but _your _sister decided she was going to be an asshole today and take her time getting ready." Said Amelia, a handbag in one hand and dragging her luggage with the other. Jade was behind her, walking with her nose in the air.

Her eyes were covered by a pair of large sunglasses and she was strutting around behind Amelia, and Amelia threw her hands in the air as if she had given up.

"I'm actually ashamed to call her my sister." Whispered Amelia, as Jade walked towards them.

Heather rolled her eyes and the twins smirked.

"I'm not sure I remember a time when I wasn't ashamed to call her my sister," the two sisters looked at each other and shared a look of understanding.

The twins laughed quietly behind them, knowing that the show wouldn't be over anytime soon.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

A couple was lazily laying in bed, their arms resting comfortably around each other. Their faces were buried in one another's necks.

"Jen," said the man, whispering in the woman's ear. "We're supposed to pick your sisters up from the airport today."

She groaned and turned over.

"They're all grown-ups. They can find their way here themselves." She mumbled, hugging her pillow.

"Jenny, you promised them," said Jethro softly, smiling. He was slightly amused at Jenny.

"Not now. I'm enjoying having the house all to myself." Said Jenny sleepily. "Don't wake me up for another five years, Jethro."

He smiled, deciding that he would let her sleep for another fifteen minutes while he made breakfast and got ready.

He took a shower and made Jenny's favourite breakfast – bacon with cheesy scrambled eggs with chocolate milk. When Jenny appeared fifteen minutes later, rubbing her eyes, she immediately went to the kitchen.

"Jethro, you're a life saver." Said Jenny gratefully, hugging him before chugging a glass of chocolate milk. "Noemi's coming in at around 11 o'clock, so we don't have to get lunch outside."

He nodded, placing a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her. She began eating and he sat down opposite her with his own plate.

"What time are they coming in?" asked Jethro, his mouth full of egg.

"Around 8.30." she said. "I should probably warn you, Jethro. My family is crazy."

"I've met them before, Jen."

"Yeah, but you haven't lived with them." Said Jenny. "They're going to get all up in your business and gossip like there's no tomorrow." She paused, then added, "Actually, that's only Jade. But one is enough. Stay clear of her, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Jade seems to know that I won't sleep with her," said Jethro nonchalantly.

"Jethro, listen to me." She said impatiently. "My sisters – they're from Crazyland. They'll drive you absolutely insane, and they're living with us till Lina and Ariele get through their first year in Washington Arts. They're not even sure if they'll get _in _WA. Their audition is in five months, they get their letters a month after that, and they start school in September 1st. Do you know how long that is _alone_? That's almost nine months. And, on top of them, Aunt Betty comes to visit on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Do you know how many aspirin tablets I have to take with Aunt Betty around, alone? Plus my sister and the twins, you can practically classify me as a drug store."

"Jenny, you're making your family sound as though they just came out of an asylum." Said Jethro, smirking a little.

Jenny sighed.

"It seems as though you do not understand the severity of their madness." She said dramatically. "You shall be unprepared for the likelihood of their craziness occurring about an hour from now. And when it hits you like a bombshell, I shall say 'I told you so'."

Jethro smiled, putting his plate in the dishwasher and going behind Jenny. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed soft kisses to her neck and ear.

"Calm down, Jen." He whispered, sucking on her earlobe. She moaned and closed her eyes. "Everything'll be okay."

She sighed and relaxed in his arms.

"Okay."

"Good." He said. "Now, go get changed. Your sisters land in about 50 minutes from now."

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

The five redheads were sitting comfortably, flipping casually through magazines and listening to music. The three sisters sat next to each other in the three-seater lane, while the twins took the seats closer to the window.

"Hey Heather?" asked Jade, turning to her sister.

"Mmhmm?" said Heather, still reading an article.

"Do you think they're still together?"

"Who's still together?"

"The kids from The Cosby Show." Said Jade sarcastically. Heather shot her a look, "Jenny and Gibbs, you moron."

Amelia's ears perked up at the sound of her favourite sister's name.

"Why wouldn't they still be together?" asked Amelia. Jade sighed as Amelia began another lecture. "_How_ many times do I have to tell you _not _to meddle in their affairs? You'd think after Katherine you'd know that they weren't going to break up."

"For God's sake, Amelia, I was just asking." Said Jade defensively. "Wasn't I, Heather?"

Heather sighed and put down the magazine she was reading.

"I think that Amelia is right." Said Heather. Like a child, Amelia stuck her tongue out at Jade while Jade scowled darkly. "You should know by now that Jenny will not tolerate us talking about her relationship, Jade."

Jade rolled her eyes.

"But," said Heather, turning to Amelia. "You need to calm down, Amelia. You always sound like you're trying to eat Jade's head off."

Now, Jade was the one who stuck her tongue out while Amelia scowled. Heather shook her head.

"It's so sad. Our family is so sad." Sighed Heather. "No one is acting like proper, matured adult."

~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~

"I bet you a month's worth of coffee that at least _one _conversation they had on that plane was about us." Said Jenny confidently.

"C'mon, Jen." Jethro stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout."That's not fair. You know your sisters."

"That's exactly why I wanted to bet with you."

They had arrived at the airport a few minutes earlier, and upon discovery that Jenny's sisters' flight would be delayed, they had decided to pass time by discussing how life would be like with her sisters and nieces around.

"We won't be able to have sex in my house anymore, Jethro." Said Jenny

"We can do that at my place," smirked Jethro, thinking about the last time thay made love. Jenny punched him in the shoulder.

"STOP thinking about last night." Said Jenny, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, that's not the point. We won't have anymore privacy."

He shrugged.

"Doesn't matter." He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her. "We can do it in front of them."

She smirked.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"That flight was _horrible_." Complained Jade.

"I thought it was okay," said Ariele, shrugging. "The food was nice. My lasagna was cheesy."

"Of course, you only cared about the food." Said Lina, rolling her eyes.

"Jade didn't like it because all the flight attendants were women." Said Amelia.

Jade glared at Amelia while the twins snickered behind them. Just as Jade was about to retort, Heather stepped in.

"Okay, stop it. I think it's more polite to start a fight once we're _out _of the public eye and _inside _Jenny's house." She said, looking around. "Speaking of Jenny, where is that little python?"

They walked around some more until they found Jenny and Jethro, walking out of a restaurant. They waved them over, and gave each a hug before just looking at each other.

"Well, you guys look cosy." Said Jenny, grinning. "How was the flight?"

"Jade was upset because all the male passengers were married and the flight attendants were female," teased Amelia, smilling evilly.

"Haha. Very funny." Jade rolled her eyes, as Jenny laughed quietly. Jade's eyes turned to Jethro, and she smiled.

"Gibbs," she said slowly, smiling. "Have you been good?"

Jenny raised an eyebrow at Jethro. Jethro cleverly did not answer, instead he just laughed and wrapped his arms around Jenny's waist. Jade smirked. It was clear that she had made him uncomfortable.

As they walked to Jethro's and Melvin's car, Jenny smirked and whispered in Jethro's ear.

"Let the fun begin."

* * *

I really, really, REALLY hope that you guys like this story, because I'm not too sure about it. :/

Anyway, please leave a review!

-Nat!


	2. Crazy Shit Happens

Author's Note: EXAMS ARE OVER! YAY! I'm sooooo happy! Anyway, here you go! My eyes are so damned tired from staring at the computer screen for so long.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THIS**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

It's been two days. Only _two days._

They were already driving Jenny crazy.

On the first day, they were trying to sort out who sleeps in which room, and Jenny insisted on sleeping in her own room, so the rest were left to sort out the sleeping arrangements by themselves. The twins decided easily to get the room in the basement. Jenny's basement was huge, and she had turned it into a mini apartment specially for the twins. There was enough space for two beds, a grand piano, a couch, a TV set and a small kitchen, with a built-in stove and sink. The only thing they needed was the bathroom, and they had one right above them.

Heather decided that she wanted the room right across the hall from Jenny's, so that left only Jade and Amelia. When Jenny came home at _two a.m._, they were _still _not settled. Apparently, Jade and Amelia were fighting about who should get the only remaining room with a bathroom.

In the end, they decided to play rock paper scissors to see who gets the room, and Jade ended up getting the room.

The second day, Amelia found out that Jade had been planning to go to Jenny's workplace to 'visit' Tony. Amelia reminded her about the threat Jenny had made against hitting on one of her employees, but Jade still insisted. And just like that, the fight had started.

"They are going to be the death of me!" said Jenny, thoroughly annoyed.

Jenny and Jethro were having dinner in her office. He had made it a point to buy her food for dinner, because he knew that she had little time to go out and get food by herself.

He dropped his plastic fork onto his empty plate – which was, just a minute ago, filled with spaghetti – and walked behind Jenny. He began massaging her shoulders

"Relax," he said soothingly, trying to ease the knots in her shoulders. "It's only benn two days, Jen. You need to live with them for a year and five months."

"I know," she said dismally. "I have no idea how to survive with them for the next year."

"And nine months," added Jethro. She glared at him.

"I have no idea what I'm going to _do_ with those three stooges for a year." She said, frustrated.

"And nine months," said Jethro again. She glared at him again, even more fiercely this time.

"Can you imagine all the quarrels, arguments and fights they're going to get into? _Especially _Jade and Amelia! I have to live with that for a _year!_"

"And nine – "

"Jethro!" she said, jumping up and shooting him a vicious glare. "You're not helping at all!"

He bit back a laugh.

"Sorry, Jen." He kissed her softly and sat down on the couch. He pulled her down onto his lap and began kissing the back of her neck.

"I used to like having my sisters around," she said softly. "But now all they ever do is fight. I'm sick and tired of watching them be children instead of the mature adults I _know _they are. And Heather isn't doing a thing at all about Jade and Amelia!"

He began licking and sucking on the skin of her neck, and she moaned loudly.

"Jethro… I can't… _think_…when you do…_that_." She said breathlessly.

"Good." He said, sucking and biting her earlobe. "You're not supposed to be thinking."

He turned her around and started kissing her passionately. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around her neck. They kissed for a few minutes, before he pushed her down onto the couch.

Ten minutes later, the Director's office was filled with moans.

~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~

They were sitting quietly at the kitchen table, eating their dinner. Noemi had left already, and they were enjoying the meal she had prepared for them – chicken pot pie.

Heather looked at Jade and Amelia, then put down her fork.

"Jenny talked to me on the phone just now," began Heather casually. She eyed the two of them. "She told me to talk to you two. Sort things out. It's only been two days, guys. Jenny's already stressed out."

Jade and Amelia mumbled an apology.

"I can't say I blame her," continued Heather, ignoring their apologies. "All you guys ever do is fight, and frankly, Jenny and I are getting absolutely fed-up with your childish behavior."

She was interrupted by the shrill ringing of her cellphone.

"_This,_" she said, motioning to the space between them, "Isn't over."

She answered the call and walked out of the room. Jade and Amelia looked at each other.

"You do realize she's right, right?" said Amelia, staring straight ahead.

"Yeah," mumbled Jade. "Why do we fight all the time?"

"I don't know," said Amelia, shrugging. "Maybe it's because we've gotten so used to arguing with each other that we regard it as a daily routine."

Jade nodded.

"Or maybe we just can't help it." Said Jade. Amelia opened her mouth to respond, but Heather appeared at the door, looking frightened and stricken.

"Eddie's back?"

Jade and Amelia let out a loud gasp.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"I'll be right there, Amelia." Said Jenny, hanging up the phone. She turned to Jethro. "Jethro, something came up and I need you to send me home."

"What happened?" he asked, putting his shirt on and taking his car keys.

"I'll explain on the way,"

In the car, Jenny started to explain.

"Heather's ex-husband is back." Said Jenny.

"Heather was _married?_" he asked, as if it was the most absurd thing he ever heard.

She shot him a look.

"Of course. How do you think she got Lina and Ariele? Heather isn't Jade – she doesn't go for one night stands or get knocked up in high school." said Jenny.

"Wait, wha-"

"So anyway," continued Jenny, ignoring the look on her boyfriend's face. "Heather had been working the night shift for a few months, when the twins were about eleven years old. One night, Eddie came home, in the middle of the night. The twins heard noises coming from Heather's and Eddie's bedroom, but pushed it to the back of their minds, thinking it was just their parents fooling around."

"They do that a lot?" he asked cheekily. She rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't know. Anyway, the next morning, Lina wakes up and goes to her parent's bedroom to wake them up. Only she finds her dad and another woman, perfectly conscious, kissing passionately on _Heather's _bed."

Jethro grimaced.

"Eddie was surprised to see the girls at home. They were supposed to be having a sleepover at a friend's house, but it got cancelled last minute because their friend came down with chicken pox. When Heather got home, she found Lina and Eddie shouting at each other. From that, it became Heather fighting with Eddie with the whore in the background, covering herself up in Heather's blanket." She sighed. "Heather divorced him immediately. It became official two months later and Heather got almost everything."

"What did Eddie get?"

"His skanky whore and what's left of his dignity." She said, satisfied. He laughed, and she turned to him. "You do know that if you ever cheat on me, you will have less than what Eddie got, right?"

"I know," he said. "Do you really think I would cheat on you?"

"No," she replied without hesitation.

He smiled. He stopped the car in front of her house and just as she reached her hand out to open the car door, he grabbed her hand and tugged it hard, pulling her in for a long, passionate kiss.

"You sure you girls will be alright?" he asked, ending the kiss and stroking her cheek.

"Yeah, we'll be fine."

"Okay. Night, Jen." He said, as she got out of the car.

"Night."

He made sure she was safely in the house before he drove away.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

She found them in the living room. Heather was sitting in the middle, with a troubled look on her face. Amelia and Jade were trying to calm Heather down – but Jenny could see that she didn't need to.

"Don't worry, Heather. We'll take care of Eddie for you. I mean, Amelia's a lawyer. I'm sure she could figure something out." Said Jade. Amelia nodded.

"Yeah, and Jenny should be able to help too."

"I'm not worried about myself," said Heather, sounding exasperated. "I'm worried about the twins. They've spent half their lives hating the man who just walked out and never came back, and now he just comes back like nothing ever happened. How am I supposed to tell them that Eddie's back?"

"_He _is back?" a voice asked quietly.

Jenny grimaced. She had seen Lina come up from the basement, and she had seen her shadow freeze when Heather mentioned Eddie. Three heads turned and faced Lina. Heather stood up.

"Sweetheart, come here." Said Heather. She opened her arms and Lina went into the willingly.

"Is he coming here?" asked Lina.

"Not if you don't want him to."

"Lina, what took you so long?" asked another voice, coming up from Jenny's study.

Ariele appeared, and stopped in her tracks when she saw her mother and sister embracing.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Eddie's back." Said Lina.

"What?"

"He came back, A." whispered Lina.

"Where is he?"

"He asked to see you." Said Heather. "I told him that I would ask both of yo-"

"No."

"Yes."

Lina and Ariele spoke their words respectively, at the same time. Their eyes met after saying their answers, and the four sisters could tell that there was a storm brewing, one that will calm down as soon as the other ones.

* * *

I changed Jade's and Amelia's jobs. Amelia is now a lawyer, and now Jade is a fashion designer.

Review!

-Nat.


	3. The Twins Are Fighting

Author's Note: Hey, sorry I took so long to update this one. Hope you'll like it!

**I DO NOT OWN THIS.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

_(Previously on The Extended Family)_

_"He asked to see you." Said Heather. "I told him that I would ask both of yo-"_

_"No."_

_"Yes."_

_Lina and Ariele spoke their words respectively, at the same time. Their eyes met after saying their answers, and the four sisters could tell that there was a storm brewing, one that won't calm down as soon as the other ones._

"What?" said the two at the same time.

Lina let go of her mom, and walked towards Ariele. She grabbed her wristand pulled her towards their room, looking over her shoulder to her mom and the others, saying,

"Excuse us, we would like to talk in private for a while."

Lina led Ariele towards Jenny's study, going over to a bookcase directly opposite where Jenny kept her bourbon. The bookcase was built on their door, so Lina had to stick her hand in between a couple of book and start rummaging around for the hidden doorknob. Her hand finally made contact with cold metal, and she clutched it triumphantly, twisting it and swinging the door open.

They walked down the stairs after locking the door securely.

Lina turned to Ariele, glaring at her harshly.

"Ariele Sue Shepard, are you out of your goddamn mind?" she said viciously, folding her arms.

"No, I am not." Said Ariele, mimicking her sister's actions. "What's wrong with wanting to see Dad?"

"_Don't _call him that. He doesn't deserve that title." Said Lina fiercely. "He cheated on Mum, Ariele, doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"That was over four years ago, Lina. A lot can happen in four years."

"Are you implying he's changed?" Lina scoffed. "Listen, cheaters _don't _change. It's a _fact_. He abandoned us for a quarter of our lives. He didn't even bother to call or text us."

"That's because Mum absolutely refused to let us see him!" said Ariele stubbornly.

"He didn't even try to persuade Mum to let him see us. You know how I know this? Because I hoped. For a year, I checked his records, Mum's cell phone, any indication he still cared. I found _nothing._" Said Lina, frustrated. She was trying so hard to get her point across and still Ariele didn't get it. "You wanna know why he didn't care? He was too busy being a man-slut, hiring prostitutes from clubs to meet him at his hotel."

"You were stalking him?" asked Ariele incredulously.

"Yes." Admitted Lina. "I wanted my father back. The man I followed wasn't my father. I didn't even _know _my father."

There was a few moment's silence, where Lina remembered the man she thought she knew.

"I still want to see him." said Ariele finally.

Lina looked at her, her eyes flashing daggers.

"Did you_ not _hear _anything _I just said?" said Lina exasperatedly.

"He's still our father." Said Ariele. "Besides, he came back, didn't he? Must be a sign he still cares."

"It's been _four _years, A." repeated Lina.

"Still," Ariele shrugged. "Maybe it's time to clear up the air between you two."

"No," said Lina, without a moment of hesitation.

"Come on, Lina."

"_No, _Ariele." She stood up and walked up the stairs, towards the door. "I'm not going to face a man who cheated on my mum, left us for four years, and didn't even bother to contact us. A man like that isn't worth my time."

The door slammed shut, and Ariele was left alone in her room.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

Two days later, the twins were still ignoring each other. The four sisters were getting worried, especially Heather, who had never seen them act so cold towards each other for this long.

"This is their first serious fight," said Heather that morning during breakfast, at a café Jenny had introduced them to. "They've never gone this long without speaking to each other."

Heather stared into her cup of coffee.

"Heather, are you okay with Ariele wanting to see Eddie?" asked Amelia. Heather just shrugged.

"He is their father, after all." I've told him that only Ariele wants to see him, and he understands why. He's taking Ariele out on Thursday."

Three pairs of eyes immediately snapped up to look at Heather.

"What?" said Jenny, wide-eyed. "Heather, Thursday is only _two _days away."

"Yeah. So?"

"You didn't think to tell us this earlier?" said Jade.

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?" snapped Heather. She shook her head. "Look, that doesn't matter. I'm just worried that they will continue ignoring each other over this. I've been through that with you guys, and I don't want to repeat it with my daughters."

Heather and Jenny shared looks of understanding while Amelia and Jade just looked away.

"Is Eddie coming to the house to pick Ariele up?" asked Jade.

Heather nodded, and Jenny frowned.

"I… don't think that's a good idea, Heather." Said Jenny carefully. "LIna will be home on Thursday, won't she? What if she sees Eddie and picks a fight or something?"

"I've informed her in advance, and she told me that she found this part-time job at a diner called 'Meals with Music' as a waitress. All the waiters and waitresses take orders and perform there, so she thought it would be good exposure for her. She starts working tomorrow."

"How did she find a job in such short notice?" asked Amelia, raising an eyebrow.

Heather shrugged.

"Don't ask me, I don't know anything."

Jenny sighed loudly. Three pairs of eyes turned to her,

"What?' asked Amelia.

"It's just… after Katherine, I was hoping madness would take a break from our lives." Said Jenny, staring at the empty mug in her hand. "Now this crazy shit is happening."

"Well, hopefully after this will turn back to normal." Said Amelia. She took out her purse. "My turn to tip?"

The others nodded, standing up.

They left the café together, the weight of everything that was happening still heavy on their shoulders.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"Jethro, can I please stay at your house tonight?" asked Jenny, resting her head on his shoulder.

It was dinnertime, and they had just finished eating. Now they were sitting comfortably on her office couch, her leg over his and her arms around his neck.

Jethro cocked an eyebrow.

"Why?"

She shrugged.

"I just feel like… running away from everything that's happening in the house now." She said. She fluttered her eyelashes at him."Please?"

He grinned.

"Okay,"

She smiled, resting her forehead against his neck. His arms went around her waist, hugging her closer to him.

"Let's go," said Jenny suddenly, standing up and pulling him.

"What?" he asked, frowning.

"I'm tired. I want to rest."

She started packing her things up and smiled at the confused look on Jethro's face.

"You aren't calling your sisters?" he asked.

"I _might've _already called them in advance." Muttered Jenny, locking her briefcase.

He smiled, shaking his head.

They got there after about ten minutes, teasing and flirting with each other the whole car ride home. The entered and Jenny immediately headed for the bedroom, wanting to rest. She expected Jethro to be right behind her, but was surprised that he wasn't there when she turned around.

She walked back down the stairs and found him locking the door.

"What're you doing?" she asked, halfway down the stairs. "You never lock your door."

"That's because I didn't have anything worth protecting." He said, turning around after checking that the door was locked.

"And now?" she said, watching him walk towards her.

He didn't answer; instead he just smiled and took his time to make it to where she was standing, He looked at her beautiful face, shrugged, and said simply,

"You're here."

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

Two days later, on Thursday, Jenny arrived at her house just when Ariele was leaving to meet Eddie. He was waiting for her at the front door, and in Jenny's opinion, he looked better than when she had last saw him. His hair was no longer long and messy, but instead short and neat. He no longer was in baggy shorts and a singlet, but instead was dressed in a well-kept suit. He had flowers in one hand.

The front door opened, but it wasn't Ariele.

It was Lina.

His eyes widened, and he smiled.

"Lina."

Lina stared at Eddie, and Jenny bit her lip.

At that moment, only one thought crossed Jenny's mind.

_Oh, shit._

* * *

The tension rises in the household! More family drama in the next one ! ;)

Please Review! It makes me smile!

\- Nat.


	4. He Wants To WHAT?

Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for the next chapter of this story. I've been soo busy with the performance that my school is putting up, and even though it's now technically a holiday, I'm not enjoying myself at all. I have choir rehearsals and practices every single day, so my holiday isn't really a holiday. :(

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

Lina was still staring at Eddie when Ariele came out, just a second later.

"Ok dad, I'm ready – oh." She stopped suddenly, having accessed the situation in front of her.

Eddie was still looking at Lina.

"Hi Lina." He greeted, smiling at her. "Long time no see."

Jenny could see the fire in Lina's eyes as she responded.

"Who's fault is that?" she said coldly.

Eddie's smile faded, and Lina turned to Jenny.

"Tell mum I've gone for work," she turned to Ariele, who was standing at the doorway. "Have fun,"

She left without another word.

The three stood there, just staring at each other. The awkwardness between them was obvious; Jenny was fidgeting and Ariele kept looking at her shoes and playing with her fingernails. Eddie was the only one who was calm.

"Jenny," he said. "You look well,"

She was thankful that he broke the awkward tension, because she didn't think she could stand it any longer without feeling eased.

She examined him, looking at him up and down. His eyes were blue, but a much darker shade than Jethro's eyes. He still had the chocolate brown hair from four years ago, only it was much shorter and neater, and less like a homeless hobo. He had changed drastically in appearance. No one would have ever guessed that this was the same man who broke her sister's heart.

"You look well too," said Jenny, smiling.

"Well, we'll just be going now." He said, putting a hand on Ariele's back. "Tell Heather not to worry. I'll have her home by ten."

Jenny nodded, and they waved at each other as Jenny watched them walk away. She noticed that Jethro's car was parked in the driveway, and was slightly surprised that he was here this early. He saw Eddie leaving with Ariele and smiled lightly at both of them. Eddie smiled as well, nodding his head in acknowledgement.

Jethro came up to Jenny and asked,

"Who was that leaving with Ariele?"

"How do you know it was Ariele and not Lina?" asked Jenny, tilting her head at him.

"Lina's nose is like Heather's. More pointy." He said, touching the tip of his nose. "Ariele's nose is like that man's. More curved at the end."

Jenny raised an eyebrow, and Jethro realized who it was.

"_That _was Eddie?" he said disbelievingly.

She nodded, amused at his reaction. Jethro shook his head.

"Can't believe Heather married a guy like _that._" He said.

"Don't let her hear you say that," she warned. "She's PMS-ing."

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

They got into his car, and as soon as they were seated down, he asked,

"Has Lina always hated me that much?"

Ariele shrugged.

"I don't think so," she turned to her dad and watched him as he started the engine and began to drive. "I think it grew when you came back. She thinks you have no right to enter our lives again after you aban – I mean, _left _us. But after all, you're still out dad."

Eddie sighed.

"I guess I need to work harder, then." He said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"On what?"

"Actually, I wanted to see _both _of you because I need help. But seeing as your sister won't cooperate, it's going to take a whole lot more effort to do what I'm planning to do."

"Which is?"asked Ariele, raising an eyebrow.

"I want you to convince your mum to get back together with me."

There was a few moment's silence, as Ariele's jaw dropped and she turned her head so that she was facing her dad again.

"What?" she asked, not sure she had heard right.

"I want to get back together with your mum." Said Eddie again.

"WHAT?" repeated Ariele, even more louder than before.

She couldn't believe him. How could he, after four years of leaving them in the dark, come back again and say that he wanted to get back the woman whom he had once promised his whole life to, the same woman he cheated on?

The cheek of him!

"How dare you?" said Ariele, trying to control her anger. "How _dare _you come into our lives again, just as things start to turn right? First you cheat on a woman you promised an _eternity _to, the woman who loved you with all her heart. Then after that, you _completely _abandon me and Lina, your own children, then show up _four years later? _ And you have the _audacity _to say that you want to fix things with you and mum?"

"Ariele-"

"I'm sorry to say that you're too late!" she spat. "Four _years _too late!"

All the pent-up anger she didn't know she had towards her father was flowing out. She felt stupid for not believing what her sister had said about her father.

"You know what?" continued Ariele. "I can't _believe _I didn't see that you had changed _drastically _over the past few years." She said, sarcasm dripping in her voice. "Lina was right. Some people just don't change."

Eddie sighed. He ran his fingers through his brown hair.

"I didn't say you _had _to help, Ariele." He said softly. "I just think it would be easier for me if you do."

Ariele narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms, just like her mother did when she was suspicious.

"Give me _one _good reason why I should help." She challenged.

"Because I'm your dad?" he tried. Ariele gave him a look that said 'good try but that ain't gonna work on me'. "Don't you want a happy family?"

"We _were_ a happy family, until _you_ screwed that up." Countered Ariele.

"Yeah, but has your mum been happy since then?" he asked. Ariele reluctantly shook her head after a minute of thinking. "Don't you want to see your mum happy now?"

Ariele nodded again, reluctantly.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to do this." Said Ariele, shaking her head. "Lina's gonna kill me for sure. My funeral will be tomorrow."

She paused.

"But then again, I could always always run away. Maybe to Great-aunt Betty's in Texas. Yeah. Then again – "

"Do you always ramble like this?" interrupted Eddie.

"Only when I get super nervous and freak out." She sighed. "Guess I'm really gonna do this, huh?"

Eddie nodded.

"Right," she said. "But you better not cheat on mum again after this, or I swear, everyone will have your head."

"Scout's honor." Swore Eddie. Ariele nodded.

"What do I do first?" she asked.

"First things first," said Eddie, parking the car in the parking lot of a restaurant. "Convince Lina to help me. Persuade her to believe that I'm not what I used to be."

"You do realize that it's practically impossible?" said Ariele, running her hands through her hair. "Once her mind is made up about something, it's impossible to change it."

"Just try anyway," shrugged Eddie. "You never know."

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

Ariele closed the door to her bedroom and leant against it, sighing and blowing hair out of her face.

"How was you date with the devil?" asked Lina, looking up from the piano she had been playing.

"Hell," said Ariele, descending the stairs slowly. "Well, only the first part was hell. The rest was okay."

She threw herself onto her bed and was joined shortly by her twin, who perched at the edge of the single bed.

"Why? What did he do?" asked Lina.

"He wants us to help him get back together with mum." Replied Ariele softly, massaging her head.

"Are you freaking serious?"Ariele nodded dismally. Lina frowned. "What did you say?"

"Yes," said Ariele, closing her eyes.

"You have _got _to be kidding me, Ariele!" exclaimed Lina.

"I know," said Ariele softly, sitting up in her bed. "But mom hasn't been happy since dad left, and you know how much she loved him. Don't you want her to be happy?"

"Yeah, but not with dad!" reasoned Lina. "You realize that this is the same person who cheated on mum with a horny slut with a fake southern accent?"

"Mom hasn't been happy since dad left!" repeated Ariele. "The cheating douchebag who happens to be our father is the only man that mom has ever loved, and he will continue to be the only man she had ever loved."

Lina sighed. Ariele was right. Their mom did deserve all the happiness in the world, even if it was with someone she didn't like. She threw her hands in the air in defeat.

"Fine. But just so you know, I'm doing this for mum and not for him." Said Lina, folding her arms. Ariele smiled appreciatively. "So, where do we start?"

* * *

I really hope you like this chapter! I'm not sure when the next one will be out, though. Cause like I said above, I have choir practices everyday, so I won't have that much time to write.

Anyway, please take a precious minute of your time to write a review for me! (I notice my stories have been lacking reviews lately)

\- Nat.


	5. Heather's Date

A/N: I'm back! Hope you guys enjoy this!

* * *

"Mom has a date." Said Ariele, flopping herself down on Lina's bed, beside her sister.

"What? How the _hell _did that happen?" said Lina, bewildered. "My God, she barely even _leaves _the house!"

"Calm yourself," said Ariele.

"I am calm!" shot back Lina, who was most definitely _not _calm.

"You wouldn't be shouting if you were calm." Ariele pointed out.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" asked Lina, a hand on her hip.

Ariele rubbed her forehead and covered her eyes.

"Guess we just have to live with it."

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"They are up to something. I'm sure of it," said Heather, narrowing her eyes towards the twin's bedroom. "And I'm going to find out what it is, even if it kills me."

Amelia shot her a look.

"I think you're just being paranoid," she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"I think _not_." Said Heather, determined. "They're been acting weird since last week. Come to think of it, they've been acting weird since Eddie took Ariele out."

"Please don't go there," pleaded Amelia. The last thing she wanted was more drama in the house.

"I think that the twins and Eddie are planning something." She said, ignoring Amelia. Amelia groaned loudly. Heather turned to her. "What?"

"You just went there."

Again, she was ignored, and Heather started mumbling under her breath. Amelia gave her older sister a worried look, wondering if there was some sickness she had that had to be checked out.

In the meantime, Jenny entered the house after yet another night at Jethro's – she seemed to be doing that a lot recently.

She entered the kitchen and stared at her sisters. She didn't expect them to be up this early. Both sisters stared back at her, and Heather stopped mumbling. Jenny cringed – she felt like a teenager caught red-handed trying to sneak back into the house after curfew. She straightened up, reminded herself that she was an adult and owned this house, and raised an eyebrow at her sisters.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

Heather and Amelia continued staring at her for a few more moments before Heather started mumbling under her breath again, looking suspiciously in the direction of the twin's bedroom. She mentioned the words 'kill', 'the twins' and 'Eddie' in the same sentence, and Amelia shot her a sympathetic look. Jenny, a bit shocked at the change of atmosphere, looked at Amelia, trying to find an answer for the unasked question. Amelia, however, just shrugged and continued sipping her coffee.

"I told you Heather, you're being ridiculous about this." She said matter-of-factly.

Heather glared at her, then turned to Jenny.

"What do _you _think, Jen?"

Jenny turned to Heather, blinked once, and studied her for a few moments. Heather, who was waiting for an answer, frowned and waved a hand in front of Jenny's face.

"Jen? Earth to Jennifer Shepard!" said Heather loudly.

Jenny's eyes slowly came back to focus.

"Huh? What do I think about what?"

"Ariele and Lina. They've been acting strange since Eddie took Ariele out-"

"-Heather, I _told _you. It's all paranoia-"

"- And Amelia thinks I'm slowly losing my mind."

"I can see why," muttered Jenny under her breath. Before Heather could retort, Jenny said quickly, "Exactly how strange is strange?"

She put her overnight bag on the counter and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"They've been sneaking around, acting as if I'm a walking time-bomb, and they haven't been practicing for their auditions." Listed Heather, ticking the list off with her fingers. "I think Eddie told Ariele something and Ariele told Lina. Something worrying."

"Well, they _could _be hiding something- "

"HA!" said Heather triumphantly to Amelia.

"- but then again, it could be them just acting like teenagers-"

"HA!" said Amelia this time. Jenny rolled her eyes at her sisters' childish behaviours.

"- _but_ I would still recommend you to keep an eye on them." Said Jenny, putting her mug in the dishwasher. "They don't seem like the type to sneak around much."

As Jenny turned around and walked out the kitchen, Heather stuck her tongue out at Amelia childishly. Amelia rolled her eyes.

Jenny got ready for work hurriedly. Jethro had been called in for a case earlier that morning, so he had left early, leaving her to catch a few more hours of sleep. It wasn't any use, becaue she had woken up while he was showering and couldn't fall back asleep without him beside her.

She stood, looking at her closet and deciding what to wear. After a few minutes, she finally decided on a dark blue pencil skirt and a rich red button-up blouse with sleeves that ended just at her elbow. She put on light make-up and just brushed her thick, red hair, deciding that she wanted to wear her wavy hair down.

She grabbed her briefcase and was just about to leave the room when the twins appeared at the doorway, blocking her way.

"Mom has a date tonight." Said Ariele casually.

Jenny was the first one they had trusted with their little plan, and Jenny, bored because there was nothing to do at work, agreed to help them enhance her older sister's love life.

"About that," she said, sticking her head between theirs so she could look out the hallway and check if there was anyone else coming. She pulled them inside and shut the door, locking it tightly."You've got to act more natural. She suspects."

"What?" said LIna, frustrated. "But we've barely even seen her this past week!"

"That's exactly why she suspects. You guys have a close relationship. If you spend less time with her, she'll suspect something. And don't you guys pretend to practice for the audition?" said Jenny.

"Great." Groaned LIna. Ariele sighed,

"And about the date – I already know about it." Said Jenny. "So what's the plan?"

"We… _haven't_ got a plan yet. That's why we came to you." Said Ariele. "We were wondering if we could follow you to work and 'practice' at NCIS, but if you have to work, then we could stay in Abby's lab."

Abby, Ziva and the twins had formed a special, sisterly bond at the sleepover they held after Jenny recovered. Although four of them had completely different tastes in music, they still got along extremely well, and Jenny was glad.

"Okay," agreed Jenny, smiling as the twins high-fived each other. "But get ready your keyboard, because if you're going to work with me, I'm going to make sure you practice for that audition." She ordered.

The twins flashed her an identical, grateful smile, then mock saluted her and marched out her bedroom. Jenny shook her head and laughed.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"Why would you want to disturb your Aunt Jenny if she's working?" was Heather's shocked response when the twins asked if they could follow Jenny to work.

"Because she's the only one of the four of you who has at least an ounce of musical talent inside her, and she can play the piano." Explained Lina.

"_I _can play the piano." Huffed Heather indignantly.

"Mum, I'm sorry but, we're gonna need someone who actually knows how to play more than just 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars'." Said Ariele, subtly implying that Heather couldn't, in the least bit, play the piano.

Heather sighed.

"I guess so, but only if Jenny agrees."

"She already did," said Ariele, walking out the living room.

"You got her permission before you got mine?"

"Yeah," muttered Lina, following her sister.

"Ungrateful little twits." Muttered Heather, pressing and playing the buttons on the remote control. "You dedicate seventeen years of your life to raise them and this is how they pay you. I EXPECT THE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS I SPENT ON YOU RETURNED BY THE TIME I TURN FIFTY!"

Lina's head appeared at the door.

"Don't be silly mum, three years isn't enough time to raise a hundred million dollars."

She was met with a look that could kill, and giggled as she returned to her breakfast.

Jenny came in five minutes later, telling them to hurry unless they wanted to carry their heavy keyboards and take the bus by themselves. They quickly stuffed their faces with the pancakes Noemi had prepared for them, then hurriedly shuffled out of the house, carrying their equipment to the car.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"Are you serious? How _desperate_ is she for attention?" asked Abby, her eyes widening at her company. Ziva shrugged.

"All I know is that she is getting on my nerves, and that Jenny will _not_ like this at all." She said. Their most recent case had been at a golf course, where they had met the Army CID in charge there, Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann. She had been shamelessly flirting with Gibbs ever since, and although Tony welcomed the drama that was sure to come with open arms, the rest of the team did not.

"I'm supposed to be at my desk now." Said Ziva, checking the time. "I will see you later for lunch, yes?"

Abby nodded once, sipping onto her CafPow!

She got a text from Jenny, asking if the twins could stay with her for the afternoon from lunch onwards, because she had lots to do.

Abby smiled. A day with the redheaded singers was just what she needed.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

The car ride there was mostly the twins and Jenny trying to figure out how to stop Heather from going out on a date. Jenny suggested that one of them pretend to be sick, but they had said that Heather could recognize instantly when they were lying and when they weren't.

Once Melvin dropped them off, they immediately headed for the office and Jenny answered an important phone call while the twins set up their keyboard.

Once Jenny hung up, she motioned for them to follow her out onto the balcony, and they leant against the railing, Jenny in the middle. They observed the team downstairs quietly, but all three pairs of eyes seemed to follow one blonde who was trying to catch Gibbs's attention.

Lina, who was to the left of Jenny, started to speak in fluent French, just in case she could be heard from the bullpen.

"Who's the blonde bimbo?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the scene below the.

Ziva, who was completely fluent in French, looked up in surprise and smirked when she saw Jenny aqnd the twins there.

"Lietenant Colonel Hollis Mann." Said Jenny softly, so only the two could hear. "Army CID."

The three redheads collectively raised an eyebrow as they watched the blonde bend over Gibbs's desk to whisper in his ear.

Ziva watched the three of them and resisted the urge to laugh at the redheads' disgusted expressions.

Ariele rolled her eyes.

"As if there aren't enough whores in this world already," she said disdainfully in French, clucking her tongue and making Ziva choke on her sip of coffee.

"C'mon girls, we should start practice." Said Jenny, smirking at Ariele's comment.

They went back to Jenny's office and scaled and such to warm up their voices. Once they were done, they proceeded to the song sheets that Ariele and Lina always carried in a file. Jenny flipped through the papers until she found a song she knew and liked.

"Ahh… 'I Told You So' by Carrie Underwood." Said Jenny, satisfied with her choice.

The younger redheads let out a groan in unison.

"The _first_ song of the day and you choose the hardest one of the lot?" complained Lina.

The Director ignored her nieces and began playing the opening bars of the song on the keyboard.

Lina sang the first verse and Ariele the second. The chorus was supposed to be a harmonization, but as soon as Lina sang the first few words, Jenny stopped playing the keyboard and looked at them.

"You guys aren't feeling." Said Jenny, "This song is about regret and fear of rejection. Lina, you have to come in much more powerful than that. You're suppose to be hating yourself for ever thinking of leaving this person. You guys have to understand the meaning and move the audience. Show that to me. We'll start at Ariele's part."

The twins nodded. They didn't normally receive any criticism from Jenny, so they were taking it very seriously.

Jenny played the bars again, but when they got to the chorus, Lina still didn't get it right.

"Aunt Jenny, why don't you give us a demonstration?" suggested Lina, after getting it wrong the third time. "Then I'll try to follow your example."

Jenny narrowed her eyes at the twins. She didn't normally sing in front of people – only a select few knew about her hidden talent. She always preferred playing musical instruments to singing.

The twins gazed back, sincere innocence in their eyes. They were waiting for an answer. They hadn't heard their aunt sing before, so they were looking forward to it.

Jenny gave a small nod and the twins smiled.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"NCIS is getting the jurisdiction on this one, Colonel Mann." Said Gibbs calmly, as the both of them headed to ards the Director's office.

This morning had _not _been a particularly pleasant one. He had been trying to focus on the case, but the blonde he was working with could only seem to focus on getting into his pants.

Colonel Mann didn't say anything as they came into Cynthia's office. The sound of the piano and soft, melodic voices could be heard from the office, and Jethro wondered what his redhead was doing in there.

"Is the Director busy?" he asked the secretary. Just As she opened her mouth to answer, another slightly louder but more powerful voice sang out the first line of the chorus.

The three heads turned towards the door and stared as the music played on and the voice sang the rest of the chorus beautiful, displaying her vibrato and knowing exactly when to get louder and softer.

At the end, Jethro just barged into the office as usual, closely followed by Colonel Mann. He was surprised to see what he found.

Jenny was sitting behind her desk as usual, but her computer had been pushed back to fit the keyboard onto her desk. The twins were on either side of her, smiling proudly at Jenny while the older redhead blushed slightly.

However, when she saw that they had guests, the Director façade slipped back on and she cleared her throat.

"Agent Gibbs, Colonel Mann, I was just about to call both of you up." Said Jenny. It wasn't true, of course, she just wanted to call Gibbs up. They both opened their mouth to speak, but Jenny held up a finger and they both fell silent immediately. "I have discussed the matter of jurisdiction and we both agreed that it will be shared. We have also," she said louder, as both agents shopwed every sign of wanting to interrupt, "agreed that Special Agent Gibbs will lead. I do not want any of you to drag this case out – get this done and over with as soon as possible."

Which was code for, _get this done so I don't have to see this bitch anymore._

The twins understood the message and smiled at Gibbs. He frowned a little.

They nodded their understanding. Jenny smiled and gestured at the door, indicating that they could leave. They both turned and walked out, Colonel Mann first, adding a sway to her hips as she walked off for Gibbs to see. He wasn't interested, however. He stopped at the door, and looked back at Jenny. She blew him a kiss.

"I'll see you for dinner tonight." She promised. He smiled at her and gave a shadow of a wink before he left.

She leant back in her chair, satisfied that what she had been afraid of hadn't happened yet – and she was going to make sure it never would.

* * *

I know this isn't exactly up to par, but I want to focus on only Jenny and Heather's love life at the second before we go on to other stuff.

Review!

\- Nat.


	6. An Italian Restaurant And A Ruined Date

Hey ya'll! I'M BACK! I'm so so so sorry for the extremely long, unexpected break I took, but my year-end exams was a really stressful period for me and I didn't have anything written. Anyway, weekly updates will be back because my exams just finished and I passed with flying colours (YAY!), and I'm posting two new stories hopefully right after On The Job or this story is done, so look out for that - it's entitled 'I Won't Let You Go' and 'The Break'. The former will be posted first, though, because I already have the first three chapters written. You can see the descriptions in my profile, so be sure to check it out. ;)

Also, we say goodbye to a certain character in this story that I personally really enjoyed writing, but I have a feeling that you guys won't be too sad over the loss. :)

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS!**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

"Could I have the spaghetti with meatballs, please?"

"You go to an Italian restaurant for the first and quite possibly the last time, and the first thing you want to try is the spaghetti with meatballs? That's incredibly insulting."

"If the spaghetti with meatballs isn't nice, then nothing else will be."

Lina rolled her eyes at her twin. She looked at the waiter.

"I'll have the grilled chicken carbonara, please." She said politely, handing the menu back to the waiter.

"I'll have the chicken fettucine." Said Jenny.

They politely thanked the waiter and he went away with their orders. Five minutes later, the door to the restaurant door flew open and revealed a man and a woman, both of whom looked astonishingly familiar. Jenny had taken the seat with her back to the door, so she hadn't noticed Jethro coming in with Hollis. However, Ariele had noticed and she nudged her twin.

"Lina," she said softly, as Jenny was too immersed in her blackberry to notice, "Isn't that Gibbs with Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann?"

Lina's eyes widened.

"That _is _him!" she hissed. "And that is _her._ Oh my God, I'm seriously going to _smack _–"

She stopped in mid-sentence when she realised that both Jenny and Ariele were staring at her.

"What are you talking about?" asked Jenny, raising an eyebrow. "And who exactly are you going to smack, and why? Because I need to make sure that it's in Amelia's field of expertise so she can defend you in court if the recipient sues you."

"Aunt Jenny," began Ariele gently, "Look behind you."

Frowning and clearly confused, Jenny turned to look behind her. She scanned the crowd and Lina counted three seconds till Jenny found the famous salt and pepper hair together with the blonde.

"Leroy. Jethro. Gibbs." Hissed Jenny, her eyes narrowing to slits.

"Well, shit." said Ariele, beginning to second guess her decision of pointing Gibbs and Mann out.

They watched as the cliché scene played out in front of them, where the blonde laughed at something Gibbs had said and rested her hand on his arm and he let it, not even moving away. They smiled at each other and Jenny turned back to face the twins.

Anger was bubbling inside her like never before. Her jaw was clenched and her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on the edge of the table. There was fire in her eyes as she replayed the scene again and again in her head, unable to the sight of her boyfriend with another woman.

"We're leaving. Now." She announced, standing up.

"But- but the food –" stuttered Lina, who couldn't live without eating every two hours.

"We'll get it to-go." Said Jenny, speaking hurriedly to the waiter who had taken their order.

The waiter rushed into the kitchen and reappeared not long after, carrying two bags of pasta in his hands. Jenny took the food and thanked him before hurrying out, not wanting to be seen by neither Jethro nor Hollis. The twins hurried behind her. As they were scurrying out, Ariele made the mistake of looking back at the two.

Chocolate eyes and ice blue eyes met for a brief second – betrayal in the former and surprise and confusion in the latter – before Ariele looked away, not wanting look at the man who could have possibly broken her aunt's heart permanently.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

Jenny was quiet the whole car ride back to NCIS. As they had taken her own car instead of having her detail drive her around in an NCIS one, she was allowed some time to think as she drove. Her heart and her head were having a serious war against one another, each forcing her to block the other out.

She didn't think that Jethro – _her _Jethro – could possibly cheat on her. It just wasn't like him. Plain and simple.

But what if he had changed? What if the Jethro she knew six years before she left had gone, replaced by a new Jethro that had somehow became heartless?

The war in her felt awfully familiar. She couldn't help but notice the similarity between the situation she is in now, and the one she was in six years ago. She had followed her head then. What about now?

"Aunt Jenny?" Lina's uncertain voice broke her train of thought. "Are you alright?"

Despite the tremendous amount of effort it took, she smiled reassuringly at her through the rear-view mirror.

"I'm fine," she said, awfully convincing.

Lina, afraid to question her aunt further even though she doubted the answer, nodded and smiled back at her. She turned back to Ariele and continued their conversation, leaving Jenny to contemplate on what she should do next.

~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~

Lunch was extremely casual, as Ariele had cut the tension in her usual silly self as she performed an extremely dramatized version of Whitney Houston's 'I Have Nothing'. After the first verse, Lina had joined in, and together they made the most heartfelt song seem extremely ridiculous as they sang the duet. Together they made Jenny laughed till her stomach hurt and she forgot whatever she saw in the restaurant.

However, lunch ended entirely too soon for her liking. Soon, the twins were headed to Abby's lab to spend time with her there while she was on her way to MTAC with a clipboard in her hands.

As a habit, she casually looked down the bullpen. Her eyes naturally wandered over to Jethro's direction. He looked up and caught her eyes for a nanosecond before she looked away, pretending like she saw nothing.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

For the rest of the day, she had only met his eyes twice. And both times he had caught hurt and betrayal in her eyes.

He was so confused. When he had approached Cynthia to let him into her office so that he could find out what was wrong, she had told him that the Director would be stuck in MTAC for another four hours for an op she was running.

So he sent his team home exactly three hours later, and happily bade goodbye to Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann. He sat on his desk an hour before catching Jenny just in time as she was leaving the building.

She didn't say anything as he got on the elevator with her.

As she predicted, he flipped the emergency stopped switch and turned to face her.

"What's going on, Jen? Why're you avoiding me?" he asked.

"I'm not avoiding you. It's just been a very busy day and I'm tired." She lied.

"Your right eye still twitches when you lie." He said.

She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Jethro, but I'm not accustomed to seeing my boyfriend acting all too friendly with another woman at the very same Italian restaurant that he took me to on our very first date." She said viciously, flipping the switch back and rushing out the lift as soon as the doors opened.

"Wait… what?"

"You heard me." She said, going to her car and unlocking it. "I'll be sleeping at my house tonight."

She got into the car and slammed the door. She was thankful that Melvin had driven Lina and Ariele a few minutes earlier – she didn't think she would've appreciated the audience.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

He just stood there, staring as she drove away. He was suddenly hit by a flashback of her leaving him in the plane in Paris, and he rushed to his car, determined to chase after her and not make the same mistake twice.

He tailed her closely. Every time she shook him off he found a way be on her tail again. They drove the streets of DC for almost fifteen minutes more than was necessarily needed to reach her townhouse from NCIS.

She angrily stormed up to him on the sidewalk after they had parked their car.

"I don't want to see you again tonight, Jethro." She said firmly and threateningly, hiding a 'or else' in her sentence.

"Jen, I can explain." He tried, reaching for her arm.

"I don't want to hear it!" she snapped, moving out of reach.

Suddenly, there was a scream from the house, and upon realization that the front door was open, Jenny's hand immediately went to her gun, her agent side kicking in. Jethro followed her into the house with his gun drawn as well.

As they approached the backyard, where all the shouting and screaming was coming from, it became more apparent that the shouts were not one of terror or torture. No, but instead, they were screams of horrible anger.

"_No _– Heather – don't _hit _– " came Amelia's voice.

"Let. Me. Go." Came Heather's menacing and threatening voice, more vicious than Jenny had ever heard it.

Jenny opened the connecting door of the kitchen to the backyard and found a sight.

Jade and Amelia were both trying with unanimous effort to restrain Heather from something. Each of them held one hand back. They were both in pajamas, obviously getting ready to sleep when they heard the commotion. Heather on the other hand, looked wonderful, if you could block out her menacing screams and facial expressions. She looked ready for a date, and that was when Jenny had remembered – she _had _one today. Heather looked like a shark ready to bite the head off the terror that provoked her, her eyes piercing daggers. Jenny's eyes followed Heather's and turned to find Eddie, standing there and looking smug and satisfied. The twins were standing in the middle, looking from their mom to their dad.

"Woah, what's happening here?" asked Jenny, keeping her gun.

"Don't keep that gun, Jenny." Hissed Heather. "I might need to shoot someone tonight."

"What happened?" asked Jenny again.

"Heather-" started Jade, but she got cut off by Heather herself.

"_I _went on a date tonight and everything was going well until this _idiot_ showed up and ruined everything by declaring his love for me in front of my date!" she spat at Eddie, disgust evident in her face.

"He ruined the date," said Amelia simply.

"I did _not _ruin the date, I just-" began Eddie.

"Shut up, you have no say in this, whatsoever." Said Heather violently.

She stomped into the house after pushing Jade, Amelia and Jenny away from her path back into the house, muttering curse words.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" shouted Amelia exasperatedly at Eddie. "You ruined her life after you left her for some whore, and you come back four years later with no apology, no explanation whatsoever for leaving her, and you actually expect her to agree with both of you dating again? You're worse than stupid – I'm pretty sure you don't possess any kind of organ that actually thinks in you."

She stormed into the house after Heather.

"I didn't do anything wrong, I just-"

"Don't even get me started with the things you have done wrong to Heather, alright? Amelia's right – you're worse than stupid." Said Jade, going after Amelia and Heather.

"What were you _thinking?_" said Lina, rubbing her forehead and sharing similar exasperated looks with her twin. "Were you even thinking at all?"

"I hate to break it to you, but seriously? Telling her how much you love her in front of her date is truly unacceptable." Said Ariele. "That is _so_ not how you win a woman's heart back."

"All this time, I thought that Heather was exaggerating about your stupidity." Said Jenny, still astounded by the fact that someone would actually do that.

"Can't you just give me a chance to explain-"

"Absolutely_ not_." Said Jenny. "Get out, and don't come back, or I won't hesitate to sue you."

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

After much badgering, Eddie finally left for good, when the twins told him that they wouldn't help him after the stunt he pulled today.

However, Jethro was still there. Jenny sent the twins to bed so they wouldn't be overheard.

"I'm honestly just really tired, Jethro, and I really don't want to argue with you right now." sighed Jenny.

Jethro nodded silently.

"A kiss?" he asked hopefully.

But she shook her head, opened the door and said a rushed goodnight before slamming it behind him, leaving him wondering why he ever thought that going out for a friendly lunch could ever have been a good idea.

* * *

So there you go! Eddie's gone, and hopefully Heather gets a new love *wink wink*. Were you guys satisfied?

My update next week will be for On The Job.

Please save time to leave a review!

\- Natalia


	7. Get Ready For The Three Redheads

Author's Note: I'm sorry for uploading this so late! I well aware that this was due on Monday, and I actually do not have an excuse to not uploading. The start of this chapter will feel very familiar to those who have read Never As It Seems, and you'll know exactly why when you read it. :) Again, sorry for the late update!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

The next day, they still weren't talking.

The team had noticed the obvious change in the atmosphere around them. It was very easy to notice how tense Jenny got when she saw Gibbs and Mann together. They had also noticed the fire burning in Jenny's eyes every time she looked at Gibbs.

Exactly an hour after that, he finally had enough. He approached on the catwalk as she was walking out of MTAC. She tried side-stepping him, but that, of course, didn't work.

_At least I tried, _she thought disdainfully as he cornered her.

"Jenny," he said, walking towards her.

Each step he took towards her, she took one step back. He walked towards her until her back hit the wall parallel to the railway and stairs.

As soon as her back hit the wall, he leant his head down towards her and gave her the most passionate kiss she had ever had. One of his hands held the back of her neck while the other circled her waist, pulling her closer and holding her tightly against him.

He pulled away after he felt the need to breathe, but still held her tightly in his arms.

"Jethro," she whispered in his ear, "Not here."

He nodded and pulled away. She took his hand and led him to her office. They ignored the questioning stares they got from passers-by and the audience in the bullpen and later, Cynthia, and just walked calmly to her office.

However, as soon as they got into the office, and the door was locked, she was back in his arms, and he was hugging her tightly.

"Jenny, you're the only one." He whispered against her hair. "You've always been the only one, and you always will be."

She tightened her hold on him.

"I swear, I would never hurt you on purpose, Jen." He closed his eyes. "_You _make me happy, not anybody else. _You're_ the one I love. I – I just –" he paused. "Hollis is just a friend, and I know how it looked like to you, but I would never cheat on you. _Please _believe me, honey."

He held her tight and pressed kisses to her hair, afraid that she would let go of what they had, even though she promised not to. He couldn't lose her – not now, not ever. Just the thought of losing her made him so scared and he never wanted to go through that – not again.

She nodded slightly, and that was all that was needed for his fear to vanish – any doubts about her leaving had instantly disappeared, and they were kissing passionately, but gently, taking their time and tasting each other thoroughly.

"I'm not letting you go, Jen." He said into her ear. "You're never getting away from me, alright?"

She smiled, and although she had known this for a long time, she was now truly convinced that the best decision in her life was standing right in front of her.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

The couch in her office wasn't the most ideal place to have a make-out session, but after he had explained everything, she just couldn't resist, and he didn't disagree either.

But after fifteen minutes of passionate kissing, they finally stopped.

They were sitting on the couch – at least, he was - and she was straddling him, her arms around his neck and his holding her tightly against him.

There was comfortable silence for a while, and Jethro could feel that Jenny was holding back on something, and was just about to tell her that she could tell him anything when –

"I'm so sorry," she said in a small voice, as if she was worried that he hated her. "I know that the foundation of our relationship is based on trust, and yet I didn't trust you at all."

He was too surprised to speak, so she just continued.

"I took _one _look at you and Hollis and I immediately assumed that you were cheating on me. I'm so, _so_ sorry, Jethro." she said again, whispering into his ear and holding him tightly.

He leant his forehead onto hers, pushing her head up gently with a finger when she wouldn't meet his eyes. He said what he wanted to say through his eyes – that it was okay, and that he himself would've made the same mistake if he had been standing in her shoes – and then pushed his fingers through her hair, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and proceeding to kiss her gently.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"Lina? Where are you going dressed like _that_?" asked Ariele, as she gazed at the, in her opinion, _hideous_ outfit that was currently on Lina.

"I have the afternoon shift at the diner today." She explained, looking down at her outfit. "It's not_ that _bad. I think it's kinda cute."

Her inform was a bright red blouse with a collar and a matching red knee-length skirt. The blouse had a zipper in the middle so Lina could adjust accordingly.

Ariele narrowed her eyes at the outfit, staring at it with disgust. She rolled her eyes, then turned serious.

"Have you talked to mum yet?" she asked.

Lina bit her lip and shook her head.

"I wanted to, but when I entered her room, Aunt Jade was there and told me that mum had just fallen asleep." She told her twin. "Aunt Amelia then came in and said that the four of them had stayed up all night trying to comfort mum."

Ariele ran her fingers through her hair, deep in thought. She suddenly raised her eyebrows.

"Ariele, what are you thinking about?" Lina asked, not sure if she actually wanted to hear what her twin was thinking about. Her ideas almost always got them into trouble, or turned out to be a complete disaster.

"What if we had a girls' night out? Just us girls with Aunt Jade and Aunt Amelia – And Aunt Jenny, if she can take time off of work – then we could just, like, hang out with each other and do stuff." She suggested.

Lina looked impressed.

"Not bad. I thought it was gonna be another ridiculous idea." She said.

Ariele looked at her twin indignantly.

"My ideas are not _all _ridiculous!" she said, folding her arms. Lina raised an eyebrow at her. "Fine – I'll give you that."

Lina rolled her eyes.

"Do you think that Aunt Jen told anyone else about Gibbs and Hollis?" she asked.

At that precise moment, Heather came in.

"Mum!" said Lina, surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

Heather just shrugged as she walked down the stairs of the basement.

"Tried to. Just couldn't." she said, plopping herself down onto Lina's bed. "So, what's with Jenny telling anybody about Gibbs and…?"

"Hollis." Ariele said.

Heather's nose crinkled.

"That's an unfortunate name." she said. "So what's up with them?"

Ariele and Lina exchanged hesitant glances.

"Girls, Jenny's my sister, I'm sure she would want me to know."

Ariele looked at Lina and nodded.

"Fine, mom, but you _have_ to promise not to tell _anyone_, okay?" said Ariele. Heather nodded. "Yesterday, Aunt Jenny took us to this awesome restaurant for lunch, but after ordering, about ten minutes after, Gibbs came in with another woman with blonde hair. They were there for lunch, too, and they looked _pretty _cosy – _too _cosy."

By the time Ariele had finished, Heather had her mouth hanging open, an outraged expression on her face. She stormed to the door and called out:

"Jade! Amelia! Could you guys please get in here? _Now?_" she walked down the stairs again and looked at the twins. "Why didn't she tell us this herself?"

"Probably because she knew that _this_ was gonna happen." Muttered Ariele.

"Look, mum." Sighed Lina exasperatedly. "She probably didn't want to tell anybody yesterday because dad came and sort of ruined any chance of_ her_ doing the talking yesterday."

"Besides," said Ariele. "You _promised _not to tell anybody about this."

"What's up?"asked Amelia as she and Jade entered the room.

"Jenny saw Gibbs acting all lovey-dovey with another woman." Blurted Heather.

"_What?"_said Amelia and Jade at the same time.

Heather nodded as the twins sighed exasperatedly, facepalming themselves.

"_Mum! _ You promised – "

"And to think that I actually _warned _him not to hurt Jenny – " said Heather.

"And of all people, _Gibbs – "_ said Amelia disbelievingly.

"Not only that, with someone named _Hollis –_"

"What?" laughed Jade. "_Hollis._"

The twins looked at each other with equal helplessness.

"Honestly, I thought he had higher standards." Said Amelia.

"Well, if he was dating Jenny, then _that_ statement is questionable."

"_Jade." _Warned Heather.

"I was just joking," said Jade, putting her hands up in surrender.

Amelia shook her head. Then, a moment later, her eyes lightened up and she looked at her sisters.

"What do you say to paying our dear little sister a visit at her workplace?" she suggested.

The other two looked at each other, then, a look of mutual understanding passed between the three of them. Heather smirked.

"Here comes the storm."

The twins shared a slightly afraid look, wondering what the sisters were about to do to Gibbs.

Ariele wanted to communicate with her twin without her mum and Aunts knowing what they were saying to each other. French wouldn't do, because Amelia had a wonderful understanding of it, and neither would German – Jade and Heather spoke it like they've known it all their lives.

So she settled for Spanish.

" Lina, I'm going to warn Jenny about this," she whispered in her sister's ear in Spanish, wanting to make sure that the others couldn't understand her.

Lina nodded.

"You make the call upstairs while I try to get their attention with something stupid." Answered Lina, also in Spanish. She turned to her mum and two Aunts. "Guys, so my first performance at the diner is on Friday and…."

Ariele slipped out of the room unnoticed and hurriedly made the call to warn Jenny, telling her the necessary details. She slipped back into the room just in time.

"… so I wasn't sure exactly what song to pick. What do you guys think?" finished Lina, talking as fast as lightning and letting all her words come out jumbled together.

The three redheads stared at each other and blinked with blank eyes.

"I honestly have no idea what you just said." Said Amelia, her face a picture of confusion.

Jade and Heather nodded in agreement as Lina gave an exaggerated sigh of exasperation.

"Nevermind." She said dramatically. "I'll just decide on my own."

She sighed again, and returned to packing her things that she needed for work, giving Ariele a small wink as she turned.

"Come on, guys." Said Heather, smirking once again. "We have a sister to interrogate."

* * *

Hehe, a little danger for Gibbs in the form of three redheads.

Anyway, my next update will be for On The Job, and it will be posted some time next week, so be sure to look out for that :)

Please take a moment to tell me what you think and leave a review! It really makes me smile a lot!

\- Nat.


	8. Colonel Mann-Stealer

Author's Note: It's two a.m here and my eyes can't see properly and I probably screwed up some phrases and stuff, so please just don't mind the typo errors (Unless they are like seriously severe) So, I present you the next chapter of The Extended Family!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

The elevator doors closest to the squadroom opened, and four redheaded ladies walked out, one considerably younger than the rest. In one, identical motion, all four of them pushed their sunglasses above their heads.

They were all wearing red dresses, except for the youngest one, who was dressed in comfortable clothing. She turned to the woman on her left.

"Mum," she said quietly. "Can I go down to Abby's lab while you talk to Aunt Jenny?"

"Just one moment, honey," said Heather, resting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Is that Colonel Mann?"

She asked quietly enough so that only the three heard, and Ariele nodded her head.

The four of them went into the squadroom and greeted the team – except for Gibbs, who wasn't there - until Hollis was the only one who wasn't greeted yet.

"I'm Heather, Director Shepard's sister." Introduced Heather, holding her hand out.

"Hollis Mann," said Colonel Mann politely, taking Heather's hand.

"Oh, yes, I've heard about you," said Heather, playing the 'fake' part perfectly. She turned around and glanced at Jade and Amelia. "All good things, of course."

There was a pause where Hollis glanced curiously over Heather's shoulder at Jade and Amelia. Seeing this, Heather laughed – a tremendously _fake_ laugh that hurt Ariele's ears so much, she had to fight the urge to cover them.

"Oh, of course. This is Jade and Amelia." Said Heather, indicating them with her hands. "They're my sisters. And this is my daughter, Ariele."

They shook hands awkwardly.

"Have you seen Gibbs, by any chance?" asked Jade.

"He left on a coffee run about ten minutes ago." Said Hollis. "Is there a reason why you're looking for him?"

The three sisters raised an eyebrow and Ariele cringed and winced inwardly, getting herself ready for what was coming –

"Actually, we were just wondering if you knew who he went out for lunch with yesterday – you see, our sister saw him looking cosy with a blonde bimbo that he was working with – " started Amelia innocently, then she paused and surveyed Hollis, looking intently at Hollis's hair as if she had just realised that it was blonde. "It couldn't be you, could it?"

"What business does your sister have knowing who Jethro goes out to lunch with?" asked Hollis, folding her arms and narrowing her eyes at the sisters. "And _excuse _me, I am most certainly not a _bimbo _– "

"Of _course _you're not a _bimbo_, Hollis." Said Jade, touching Hollis's arm and putting on a smile. "I think the word most _suitable _for you is slut – "

"_What _did you just call me?"

And just before Hollis, the redheads or the team could react, Gibbs came in, holding two cups of coffee. He passed one to Hollis, who gave him a flirtatious smile, before turning to the sisters and giving them the 'I won' smile.

"Ah," said Heather softly as he approached them, making her other sisters turn around to see what she was looking at. Jade and Amelia stood on either side of their sister, sporting similar smirks on their red painted lips. "Just the person we wanted to see."

He wasn't sure he liked the fact that Jenny's sisters were staring at him, wearing a sinful smirk with one eyebrow perfectly arched. They folded their arms in unison – it was almost like the whole thing was rehearsed.

The team stared in between the sisters and Gibbs, not sure what the hell was going on.

Gibbs didn't have a clue what was going on either.

"Did you see Jenny yesterday night, Gibbs?" asked Heather.

He had a feeling it was a trick question and he looked past Heather's shoulders to Ariele, who bit her lip, an apologetic look on her face. She excused herself from the scene and rushed to the desk behind McGee's, crouching down to make a phone call to Jenny.

"Umm… no?" he said truthfully. "Jenny told me to go home after Eddie showed up."

"When was the last time you saw her?" asked Amelia.

He narrowed his eyes, feeling a bit suspicious. He had seen her that morning, when he had gone over to apologise and make up with her. After that, he had been busy with the case, and she had been busy doing… whatever she was doing.

"A few hours ago." Replied Gibbs, still a bit suspicious.

"So you would know what she's been doing, then?" said Jade.

Just as he opened his mouth to answer her question, Jenny appeared out of nowhere, stepping into Jethro's defense.

"I believe that it's none of your business, _sis_." Said Jenny firmly, raising an identical eyebrow. "Now, Colonel Mann, Agent Gibbs and his team have a case to solve, and I suggest that you do not disturb them anymore."

Amelia stepped forward, leant into her younger sister's ear and whispered so only Jenny could hear, "Jenny, we came to talk. We know about Gibbs and Hollis."

Jenny inhaled sharply.

"I can't talk now, Amelia – I have a meeting in five minutes and I have to go back to my office." She whispered back. She cleared her throat and looked pointedly at her sisters, speaking in a louder voice. "I'm sure either Dr Mallard or Ms Scuito will be happy to keep you company."

Before Jade or Heather could open their mouths to argue, Amelia shook her head slightly so only the three sisters noticed, and they understood, giving Jenny a kiss to the cheek and an innocent smile to Hollis before leaving the bullpen.

Jenny watched as her sisters left the bullpen, frowning when she realised that her niece was missing, but that was soon resolved when Ariele popped up behind McGee's desk, giving Jenny a hug and muttering a hurried apology before scurrying after her mum. Ariele glanced back at Jenny and gave her an apologetic look, but Jenny shook her head and mouthed 'it's okay' to her.

Once they were gone, Jenny turned to Gibbs.

"You're welcome." She said, smirking. He rolled her eyes.

She was just about to turn and leave when Hollis called her back.

"Director Shepard," she called, placing a hand on her arm. "You need to teach your sisters how to speak to people."

"_Excuse _me?" said Jenny, fire in her eyes.

Gibbs realised that his team wasn't doing anything pertaining to the case, and he glared at them, effectively making them turn back to their own tasks.

"Your sister – Jade – accused me of being a slut. I suggest you talk to them about having some manners when it comes to people in the military. I wouldn't normally take that lightly, Director."

"Of course, Colonel Mann." Said Jenny, preparing to leave. "Though you _should _know that nothing that ever leaves Jade's mouth turn out to be lies."

And with that, she left, leaving the Colonel and her crumbled pride in the bullpen.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

Ten minutes to lunchtime, the team heard a commotion from the balcony. Eventually, all heads on the lower floor started to look at the direction of the two angry voices as they started to get louder. One of the voices was Jenny's, and she was having a very heated conversation with a man with brown hair in a well-kept suit. They were walking down the stairs, and once they reached the elevator, the man stopped walking, giving Jenny a crooked grin and elevator eyes.

"Okay, let's make a deal." He said, a slimy smile on his face as his eyes settled back on hers. "You agree to this, and I'll take you out on Saturday night."

Jenny raised an eyebrow, blinked once and folded her arms. Did this man really think that she was _that _desperate for a date? Or was he just incredibly self-centred?

"You _obviously_ haven't understood the art of the _deal_, have you?" she said, ignoring the snickers and giggles the comment got.

She was completely infuriated with the man standing before her, and his cocky attitude wasn't helping things. The past hour with him had been completely and utterly _torturous_.

Apparently, he also had had enough of her, because his face darkened and his slimy grin turned into a nasty frown.

"Look, Shepard." He said, pointing a finger that was as crooked as his face at her. "I've tried playing nice with you, and I will _not – "_

"_Nice?" _interrupted Jenny. The past hour had been anything _but _nice. "Well, you and I have a _very _different of what is and is not nice, Johnson. You see – to _me,_ playing nice with me is most definitely _not _looking down my top every five seconds, or turning everything I said around into suggestive comments. Playing nice with me would be having the ability and sophistication to like an adult and _not _behave like a sexually frustrated teenager. Don't you have a wife at home? What would she say if I told her _half_ the things you said to me in my office just now?" She turned to the agent who had escorted both of them down. "Agent Marcus, would you be so kind as to escort Senator Johnson out of the building?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She turned back to Johnson.

"I _would_ escort you out myself, and I _would _wish you a good day, but you ruined every chance of me having a good day and I've just spent every bit of my energy trying to keep your head on your shoulders." She said angrily, her eyes glaring daggers at him. She watched in satisfaction as he gulped and followed Agent Marcus into the elevator.

Jenny turned around and noticed that the entire bullpen was shamelessly staring at her. She upped her glare, making her look more vicious and intimidating.

"Don't you all have work to do?" she said scaldingly.

Everyone averted their eyes and continued what they had been doing. She rolled her eyes, ran her fingers through her hair and walked quickly to the elevator, wanting to call her sisters and niece and have lunch with them.

Jethro got up and followed her to the elevator. Predictably, he flicked the emergency stop switch and turned to her. He stepped towards her and kissed her softly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, stroking her cheek. She nodded.

"Just a bit tired, that's all." She said reassuringly, hugging him.

"What's with your sisters?" he asked, after a few moments of silence.

She sighed heavily.

"Ariele and Lina told Heather that she saw Colonel Mann and you at the restaurant together. Heather told Jade and Amelia, even though the twins made her promise not to tell anyone else." She explained.

Jethro cringed.

"They came here to kill me?" he joked.

"_Something_ like that." She said, playing along with him.

They laughed heartily, and she tiptoed to press a kiss to his forehead. In return, he pressed a kiss to her nose.

"You should go back. My sisters want to have lunch with me and the team will probably be wondering where you are." She said softly.

He nodded, kissing her gently, taking his time. The kiss came to a natural end, and he gave her a hug.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too." He pressed a kiss to her cheek and flipped the switch.

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

For the first forty-five minutes, Ariele had decided to take her mind off of what had happened by dancing to a few songs, then proceeded to sing while her mom and aunts were upstairs in Abby's lab, having a serious discussion that Abby had somehow been dragged into. She had decided that she didn't want to hear anything about what her mom and aunts were discussing, and came downt o the morgue, where Ducky and Jimmy had welcomed her and allowed her to use the back room, where it wasn't that cold.

After that, with Jenny's permission, she had hit the NCIS Shower Room to wash up and get ready for lunch.

She had brought along her high heeled boots to replace the sneakers that she had danced with, and she brought along jeans and a strapless red top – her mom had told her to bring something red to wear – and a black blazer. She let her hair down in their natural waves, red wavy strands framing her face and tumbling down her back. She had also brought along make-up – her face was sweaty and oily always after she danced, so she had brought her toner, concealer and all that jazz, making sure to keep her make-up natural and not seem too cakey.

As expected, her mom and aunts were still in Abby's lab, and they were still talking.

A minute later, Jenny came in, looked at the four of them and raised an eyebrow.

"Why're you all wearing red?" she asked.

The other four shrugged.

"We thought it would be fun to wear matching colours." Said Amelia. "Besides, look at what you're wearing."

Jenny was wearing a tight-fitting knee length red dress with a black blazer on top that was very similar to Ariele's.

Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Come on," she beckoned, and the four of them gathered their stuff. "Have you decided where to have lunch yet?"

~NCIS~JIBBS~NCIS~JIBBS~

"It's honestly not what you think, guys." Said Jenny, sighing. "He _wasn't _cheating on me. He was just having a friendly lunch with Colonel Mann, and I took it the wrong way. If anything, _I_ should be the one apologizing to him for not trusting him."

"_Really? _From what we've heard from Abby, Colonel Mann-Stealer has been all over Gibbs for the past few days." Said Jade. Jenny raised an eyebrow at the nickname. "It's just something we came up with just now in a discussion." She explained vaguely.

They had decided on a small French restaurant not too far from NCIS that had just opened a few days ago.

Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Jethro swore to me that he had never looked like anyone else like he looks at me. He _promised _me that he would never hurt me, at least not on purpose." Said Jenny, as if that settled everything. And to her, it did, because Jethro's word meant everything to her.

"Jenny, people _do_ break promises." Said Amelia gently. "Look, I'm sure all of us, with the exception of Ariele, has had that one man in our lives that we really depended on but he had let us down – "

"Jethro would never let _anyone_ down." Snapped Jenny. She sighed, frustrated and ran her fingers through her hair. "You guys don't need to believe Jethro or me. When Jethro approached me this morning to apologise for hurting me even though he didn't mean to, I knew that his apology was sincere."

"You guys don't know Jethro." Continued Jenny. "He's the most faithful, loyal, trustworthy person I've ever met, and even if he was with someone who he absolutely _hated_ – he wouldn't ever, _ever _cheat on that person. He's _Jethro._ He doesn't do stuff like that."

Silence followed Jenny's rant, and Jenny looked at the cup of coffee she was holding, fidgeting under the intense gazes of her sisters and niece.

"It's nice to trust someone like that, doesn't it?" asked Amelia sadly.

Jenny, taken aback by the sudden question and all the emotion behind it, stared at Amelia, before nodding slightly.

The four sisters let out a collected, heavy sigh, and Ariele panicked, not wanting to sit in a tense, dark and sad atmosphere for the rest of lunch.

So, Ariele being Ariele, she asked the very first question that came to her mind.

"_Where_ did you guys come up with _Colonel Mann-Stealer?_"

There was a pause, then the giggles that suddenly erupted from Heather, Jade and Amelia told Ariele that her plan was successful.

* * *

Hehe, I really enjoyed writing the scene with Hollis and the sisters. This chapter is seriously the longest I've ever written for any story, and I didn't even follow my original chapter - it sort of found a life of its own. Oh well.

The next chapter in on Valentine's Day - and yes, I know I screwed up the timeline. I'm sorry, but for this story I think I'm going to have to change a few things I originally wrote in The Shepard Family.

Also, I'm coming up dry for any other plot ideas for this story - my muse decided that it was the right time to abandon me and leave me alone. So please, anyone with suggestions, could you please PM me or leave a review?

Please take a second to leave a review!

\- Natalia.


	9. Valentine's Invitation

Author's Note: Oh my God I'm so sleepy right now... I can hardly concentrate. Anyways, thanks to all who reviewed last chapter! I hope you guys still enjoy this though. I know it's supposed to be an update for On The Job, but I haven't finished editing that one yet, so you get this instead. Sorry!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS. **

**ENJOY!**

* * *

They were approaching February, and the blessed bliss of the fact that Hollis Mann was finally gone after realizing that Jethro wouldn't ever be interested in her and her blonde hair. She had visited Jethro in his basement after the case and he had made it clear that he wasn't interested, and she had taken it quite well, though she did slam the door as she left.

Other than that, things were quite well for everyone – except for Jenny.

You see, February was in two days, and in February, there was only one thing that mattered – Valentine's Day.

So when Jenny heard that all the important people, including her, were expected at a Valentine's Day Ball courtesy of the SECNAV, she bit her lip from crying out in frustration.

"You're going out to a ball on Valentine's Day?" asked Amelia.

Jenny nodded.

"So I assume that Gibbs is going to be there too?"

Jenny shrugged.

"I haven't asked yet." Admitted Jenny.

"_What? _What are you waiting for? Valentine's Day is next week!" said Amelia, looking at Jenny as if she had grown another head.

"Why _haven't _you asked him yet, anyway?" asked Heather.

"Because Jethro doesn't _do _balls – or dances – or anything that requires him to wear a tuxedo and spend time with a bunch of politicians." Said Jenny. She sighed, then added in a small voice, "And I'm afraid he'll say no."

The other three redheads exchanged exasperated glances with each other.

"Jenny, I don't think he would want to leave you alone in a room where a bunch of sleazy, sweaty _slimy _politicians can hit on you." Said Heather reassuringly. It was clear that she shared the same opinion on politicians with Jethro – Heather had hated politicians since she was young and had contact with a few.

"Just ask, Jenny." Agreed Jade. "And if you have to, use sex to get him to agree."

Jade winked at Jenny and the other three laughed, shaking their heads. That statement was just so like Jade to say.

"I don't think Jethro would be very happy after that." Said Jenny after laughing.

Jade shrugged, and took a sip of her coffee.

Jenny smiled as they moved onto another topic, and couldn't help but feel extremely happy. They were all like last time, before the drama, before the tension and hurt – and it felt extremely wonderful to be able to enjoy her sisters' company over a cup of coffee in the morning.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

They were now going out for lunch daily together, unless one of them had something important on – and most of the time it was Jenny. Then, to compensate for going off with her sisters for lunch, Jenny would go out with Jethro for dinner.

Everyday Heather, Jade and Amelia would pick Jenny up from her office for lunch, and after that they would send her back.

So here they were, in the elevator together, after lunch.

"I _hate _being single on Valentine's Day." Groaned Amelia.

"Oh, come _on_." Said Jenny, rolling her eyes.

"Easy for _you_ to say, Jennifer Shepard," said Jade, looking over at her younger sister. "_You_ have a hot date waiting for you."

The elevator doors opened and they got off at the bullpen.

"You don't have to spend money on gifts you can't afford on Valentine's Day?" started Jenny in mock sympathy. Her sisters rolled their eyes – but Jenny wasn't finished yet. "Chocolates will be on sale for you tomorrow – and your brains don't have to explode thinking about what to buy your other half?" Jenny let out a loud gasp and widened her eyes. "You _poor_ souls!"

She smiled at her sisters, then turned and climbed the stairs. However, she forgot that it was her sisters that she was challenging – and they always had an answer.

"Wait a minute, Jenny!" said Heather in the same mocking tone Jenny had previously put on, "You'll have someone to spend Valentine's Day with?"

"And you'll receive gifts from your other half for _free?"_ continued Amelia.

"And you'll spend the day in the arms of the one you love most?" said Jade.

On cue, the three of them widened their eyes and gasped at the same time.

"You _poor _soul!" they finished together.

Jenny rolled her eyes at her sisters as they smirked at her.

"Fine – I'll give you that." Said Jenny. "But seriously, being single on Valentine's Day isn't that bad. And before you guys say anything about my relationship status – before Jethro I was single for six years and never had a Valentine then. I survived, and so will you."

Before any of her sisters could come up with a retort, Cynthia called and reminded Jenny that she had a conference call in MTAC scheduled and it was about to begin in five minutes.

"Gotta run," said Jenny, giving each of her sisters a kiss on the cheek and a hug, which they returned. "I'll see you tomorrow."

The other three waved goodbye to their busy sister, watching as she bent down to the eye scanner and scanned herself into MTAC. Once the door closed, the three whipped around and leaned on the balcony. They smirked in unison, easily finding the salt and pepper hair that belonged to their sister's beau.

They made their way to his desk, nodding their head in hello at the team as they passed theirs They stopped right in front of him.

"When Jenny asks you to the Valentine Ball, say yes." Said Heather softly so that only Jethro and the other redheads could hear.

"And if she doesn't, then ask _her _to the ball instead." Said Jade, equally soft.

" Or _we_ will personally see to it that you get castrated by our hand – even _if_ you wear a cup." Threatened Amelia.

Then, they gave him and identical flash of white teeth before stalking to the elevator to leave, leaving Jethro to absorb and process what the hell had just happened.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"Jen? You got something to ask me?" asked Jethro as they ate Chinese takeout on the couch of his living room.

Jenny hesitated, toying with her Kung Pao Chicken. She set her chopsticks down with a sigh.

"Would you like to come with me to the Valentine's Day Ball?" she mumbled, not looking up at him. She stared with her food and braced herself at his answer.

Jethro nodded, then, realizing that she wasn't looking at him, verbalised his answer.

"Okay,"

Jenny's head snapped up so fast that her neck hurt, and she looked at him like she wasn't sure she had heard him properly.

"What?" she asked.

"Okay," repeated Jethro, slightly amused at her reaction. "I'll be your date to the ball."

She smiled brightly at him, making him smile as well, and she picked up her chopsticks, feeling suddenly hungry and willing to eat, now that the weight of her question and what she thought would be his answer was lifted off her shoulders. She hadn't been happier since she heard that there was a Valentine's Ball, and he was glad at the sudden change of atmosphere in the room.

He hadn't agreed to go just because her sisters had threatened to – he wouldn't do that, even _if _castration was the price – he agreed because he genuinely wanted to go, and be her date for the ball.

"Is that why you've been avoiding me all week?" he asked, finishing his last bit of chow mein.

She had stopped talking during dinner, and her usual smiling self was suddenly cold and distant, and he figured it was because of work, and not because of something as trivial as asking him to be her date – he had actually thought it was obvious that he wasn't going to let her go into a room filled with politicians with wandering hands looking beautiful, like she always does.

Jenny nodded.

"I wasn't sure if you'd agree," she explained. "I was afraid that you would say 'no'."

Jethro shook his head, then realised that if she entered the ball on his arm, they would be revealing their relationship to everyone around them – a relationship that they had successfully kept a secret for almost a year now, and he wondered if that would change anything.

"Are we going to go public?" asked Jethro.

"I didn't think of that," admitted Jenny. She shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

He wasn't prepared for the worry that filled him as she said that.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

They spent the rest of the night in the basement, sanding the boat and just talking to each other.

"Jen… what if SECNAV doesn't approve?" he asked, breaking the comfortable silence. "What do we do then?"

Jenny looked at him, tilted her head and put down the sander, walking over to him. She placed a hand on his cheek, stroking his cheek and planting a small kiss on his lips.

"Don't worry, Jethro." She said reassuringly, placing her hands on his chest. "If he asks for my resignation, then I'll _gladly_ give it to him."

"But you_ just_ became Director, Jen." He protested softly.

"The title won't stay, but _you _will." She said, looking up at him. "Won't you?"

Jethro nodded, giving her a small smile.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I was afraid that you would – "

" – change my mind?" she finished.

He nodded, ducking his head.

She said nothing, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and hugging him, nuzzling her face into his neck and breathing in, inhaling his scent.

His arms naturally went around her, one wrapping around her waist and the other toying with her hair.

"I won't leave," she mumbled against his neck.

There would always be a hint of doubt in his mind that would eventually grow when something like this happened – and it would always consume his thoughts, the same way it did since they had dinner – but she had a wonderful way of making it disappear in a flash – for now.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

Exactly a week later, a few hours before the ball, Jenny began getting ready in the office. She had been required to report to work because Team Gibbs had caught a case on the day itself, but Jethro had sworn that he would still go to the ball with her, even if they hadn't wrapped up the case yet.

But, even so – she had taken it upon herself to secretly ask Ducky to the ball should Jethro change his mind about the ball, because she knew that Ducky knew, better than anyone else, that when Jethro got a case, he didn't just up and go in the middle of it to a ball, even _if _Jenny was involved. It was just the way he worked.

But she had also asked Ducky because he wouldn't think that he was second choice, because Ducky was the most wonderful gentlemen Jenny had known – with the exception of Jethro – and he wouldn't take it wrongly, and he would understand – that was one of the reasons why Ducky had been a wonderful father figure for her from her first day at NCIS.

She took a quick shower in the small bathroom in her office, shaving her legs, and then applying her makeup. She had opted for a natural look, not wanting to appear smothered with makeup like most women would be at events like these.

By then, an hour had passed, and she still hadn't put up her hair or got her dress ready.

She glanced out the door of the bathroom, at the clock that sat at her desk and realised that she still had an hour left. She took her time, opening the bag she had brought with her that carried all the supplies she needed and taking out a bottle of leave-in conditioner. She poured just enough onto her palm and began smoothing it out onto her wet red waves. She was just about to grab a comb when she heard her office door open and slam close.

She rolled her eyes, knowing only one person in the agency who would dare to do that. She put on her robe, tying the sash quickly while walking out of the bathroom, where she found Jethro standing there.

"Solved it," he said, grinning when he spotted her and realised what she was wearing.

She lifted a perfectly penciled eyebrow, ignoring the look he was giving her.

"Who did it?"

"Husband. Thought that she was having an affair with another marine, put an end to it and framed the murder on the other guy."

"Were they?" she asked, and he tilted his head in question. "Having an affair, I mean."

Jethro shook his head.

"They were just really good friends."

"So she died for nothing." Sighed Jenny sadly. Murders like these could've been easily avoided with an honest conversation between all three parties.

He hugged her, and she buried her head in his neck, wrapping her arms around his middle. He pressed a kiss to her hair and inhaled the scent of the shampoo she used – probably some organic brand that used natural ingredients – Jenny was a sucker for anything that used natural ingredients and didn't have any chemicals.

They hugged for a few more moments, before Jethro said he had to go and get ready for the ball and said that he'd be back in twenty minutes.

He turned to leave, and just as the door closed behind him, he shouted, "By the way, you don't need to call Ducky to cancel – I already did. Oh, and your sisters and nieces are downstairs."

She could practically _hear_ the smirk in his voice, and she shook her head, walking back to the bathroom to do her hair.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

Ten minutes to seven, the bullpen was filled with buzzes. Palmer had left, saying that he had a date waiting for him, and Tony, McGee and Lina were just chatting at Tony's desk while Ziva, Abby and Ariele were laughing at each other's stories at Ziva's desk. Jade, Heather and Amelia were chatting with Ducky at McGee's table, while Gibbs, already dressed and looking sharp in his three piece tux, waited for Jenny nervously, stealing glances at his watch every thirty seconds or so.

Seeing this, Amelia excused herself from the conversation and walked over to Gibbs standing next to him and leaning on his desk.

"I never told you this, but I actually genuinely thought you two weren't going to last." Admitted Amelia softly. Gibbs looked at her in surprise. "I wasn't the only one who thought that – Heather and Jade thought so too. We thought that what happened in Paris would weigh you guys down and stop you from having any kind of relationship."

"The past is the past, Amelia." Said Gibbs.

"Maybe to you, but to the Shepard Family, the past shapes your present, and your future. Your past makes you who you are." Said Amelia. "But you guys are doo for each other. There were some signs here and there – first it was when you refused to leave her side at the hospital after she got shot, and then what she told us about her trust for you and your loyalty to her – and after that, the three of us just agreed that if there was such thing as 'soulmates', then you guys would be a perfect example."

"When did she tell you about her trust and my loyalty?"

"It was after we consulted Hollis – last month when she caught you and her together having lunch." She explained. "We thought it was then and there that you guys would break, but you didn't, because she said that she trusted you, and she knew that you would never hurt someone you were with, even if you had grown to absolutely despise that person. And then she went on to say that you were the most loyal, faithful person she had ever known, and that the last person on Earth that she would think to be a cheat would be you – Leroy Jethro Gibbs."

"She said that?" he asked.

She nodded, and he smiled. The thought that she would trust him to the point where she would defend him from her own sisters really meant something, and he noted to himself that he was going to thank her later.

"Anyway, as I was saying, you guys are good for each other." Continued Amelia. "You mend each other. You guys have the relationship that everyone else wished they could have with someone special. Hell, you guys smile just _thinking_ of each other – or at the mention of the other's name."

She tilted her head and smirked when he smiled, and there was no need for a mind reader to know that he was obviously thinking about Jenny.

"Don't tell Jenny, but I'm leaving for New York the day after tomorrow." She said casually. His head swung to face her. "I'm going with Jade – both of our bosses called us back a week ago to work. I have a new case, and Jade has a new fashion line to design. And before you ask, no one else knows but you and Jade."

"When are you planning to tell her?" he asked.

"Not today," she said vaguely, then she turned to him. "Don't bring her back today – ask her to spend the night with you. We've been spending a lot of time together lately, and I think she misses spending time with you."

"We have dinner everyday." He said skeptically.

"I know, but after that you send her home and you guys don't see each other till the next day to do the same thing." Said Amelia, rolling her eyes. "I mean that you guys are gonna spend _time_ together – _quality time._"

He nodded, finally getting her meaning.

"Oh, and don't tell Jenny I asked you to do that."

He nodded again, as the office door opened and revealed Jenny, looking extremely beautiful.

She was wearing a floor-length, crimson red, figure-hugging dress with capped sleeves made of patterned lace. There was a slit at the right side of the dress that ran up to the top of her thigh. The shade of red contrasted sharply with her creamy pale skin, and she looked absolutely stunning. Her feet were encased in a pair of her usual black stilettos and around her neck was a thin chain that held a blue gem the colour of his eyes that she had found somewhere. Her hair was half-tied. She had let down her fringe, the strands framing her face delicately.

Everyone had smiles on their faces as Jenny walked elegantly down the stairs, and Jenny returned it. Lina and Ariele had their phones and polaroids respectively, ready to snap pictures.

Gibbs fought the jelly in his legs and forced himself to walk towards her, climbing up one flight of stairs where he met her. He took her hand and placed a light kiss onto it, making her smile.

He stood at his height again, and she smiled appreciatively at him.

"I have a _very_ handsome man." Said Jenny softly.

"I have a _very _beautiful lady." Said Gibbs, pressing a kiss on her forehead before leaning his against it.

Downstairs, Lina and Ariele were snapping pictures of them while Abby read their lips aloud for the rest to understand what they were saying.

"Oh my God, they're so cute together!" she squealed happily.

Back at the stairs, Jethro pressed a kiss to Jenny's lips, wrapping an arm around her waist.

Once they pulled away, her held out his arm and Jenny took it. They walked down the last flight of stairs together, and Jenny waved goodbye to her friends and family.

"Have fun!" called Abby, and the others followed her lead.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll have _lots _of fun." Said Jade, smirking at Jenny.

Heather, Amelia and Jade shared a knowing look and Jenny shook her head at her sisters.

"One day, they'll be the death of me." Muttered Jenny, as she and Jethro stepped into the elevator.

"Ah, Jen, you love them." Teased Jethro, smiling at her.

"That I do." She said, as the doors closed.

Jethro went behind Jenny and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck as she leant in her head back so that it was against his shoulder.

"You smell nice," he said, still kissing her neck.

"I _always _smell like this, Jethro." She looked at him strangely.

"I know," he said, taking her arm again as the elevator doors reopened, and they both made their way to the ball.

* * *

I hope you guys enjoyed that! I loved writing Amelia's and Gibbs's coversation, it was just so fun.

The next chapter is the ball, and revealing their relationship to the public, and what their reactions will be.

Please review and tell me what you think!

\- Natalia


	10. The Valentine's Ball

They reached the ball about ten minutes later and as they got out of the car, they were blinded by flashing lights from cameras.

Still, Jenny proudly took the arm Jethro had offered as they walked inside, and a lovely young lady came up to them and showed them to their seats.

To their dismay, they were seated at the exact same table as Senator Ian Jefferies, with whom Jenny had had a brief fling with, Assistant Director of Homeland Security, Tom Morrow, and they very person they had agreed not to make eye-contact with, the Secretary of the Navy, Phillip Davenport.

They were accompanied by beautiful women who, in Jethro's opinion, wore too much make-up. They approached the table slowly, with plastic smiles on their faces.

"If you think I'm gonna let you seat next to Jefferies, you're wrong." Jethro muterred in her ear.

They were to be seated opposite SECNAV and to the left of him was Tom Morrow, and beside them were their wives, and next to SECNAV's wife was Jefferies' date, followed by Jefferies himself. The only vacant seats were the one next to Morrow's wife and Jefferies.

"The thought never crossed my mind," said Jenny, looking up at him. "Play nice, Jethro."

He grudgingly agreed just as they reached their table, and the entire table stood up to greet them. Jenny kissed everyone on the cheek while Jethro just shook their hands. Introductions were made and smiles were exchanged – though Jenny did notice that Jefferies' date was a bit hostile towards her and a little _too_ friendly to Jethro.

Jethro pulled Jenny's chair out for her, and they both sat down.

"So Agent Gibbs is your protection detail tonight?" SECNAV asked Jenny, and she exchanged a look with Jethro.

"Of sorts," said Jenny.

Under the table, Jethro grabbed Jenny's hand and intertwined their fingers, resting their hands on his thigh. Jenny quickly masked her look of surprise, expertly averting her eyes from SECNAV's.

Davenport raised an eyebrow at Jenny's vague answer and shared a look with Morrow, with whom he was very good friends with.

"Director Shepard, how's your recovery from the accident doing?" asked Morrow.

The official press release for the reason of her being hospitalized a few months ago was that she had gotten into a hostage situation and the captor was Katherine, whom she had been forced to kill. The only people who knew the truth was SECNAV, Leon Vance, the team, Jenny's family and now, presumably, Morrow.

"I'm doing fine – a few more weeks and I'll be back to normal." Said Jenny, giving him a small smile.

"Any pursuits on the horizon?" prodded Morrow.

Jenny raised an eyebrow and laughed, knowing exactly what he was asking.

"No matter how many times you ask, Tom, you'll never get a straight answer – and you know that." Said Jenny sassily to her ex-boss.

Morrow laughed and gave Davenport a shrug, while Davenport smiled. Jethro smirked at Jenny.

"Fair enough," said SECNAV, as he and Morrow stared at Jethro and Jenny suspiciously.

Their suspicion only heightened considerably as dinner was served. While the other guests at the table made small talk, they were watching the Director and Agent entertain each other, laughing at the stories and the jokes they shared.

Jenny and Jethro were both perfectly aware of the fact that they were being scrutinized by their current boss and their ex-boss. They had been determined to act like they normally would when they were out of public eye, but the pairs of eyes currently watching them were making their task a bit difficult. They shared a look and looked back at Morrow and SECNAV, both of whom immediately averted their gaze. They shared another look and rolled their eyes in unison, something that didn't go unnoticed by neither Davenport nor Morrow.

"You know, we _do _know that you've been watching us for the past fifteen minutes." Said Jethro, smirking.

"You practically burned a hole in our heads with how concentrated your stares were," said Jenny, raising an eyebrow, clearly amused.

The two shrugged.

"You have a question to ask, then ask it." Demanded Jenny.

"Are you here as a personal escort or a professional one, Agent Gibbs?" asked Davenport, looking directly at Jethro.

Before Jethro could say anything, Jenny looked at SECNAV and said "Yes to both."

She turned to Jethro just as the DJ announced that the dance floor was open and the first song was about to play.

"Wanna dance?" she asked, her eyes twinkling.

Jethro looked at her in surprise before taking the hand she had offered. He had been planning to ask her anyway, and was pleasantly surprised that she had been the one to ask him to dance. All the other woman he had gone out with would always wait for him to make the first move on everything – but Jenny would always take it upon herself to surprise him.

And she did it so well.

But even though it was her who asked him first, and her who offered her hand, he led her to the dance floor, where a number of couples had already gathered to dance with their partners, and kissed her hand gently – and at this point neither of them cared about who was there to watch.

"Should we oppose to this?" asked Davenport.

"Ah, let them have their fun for tonight, Phillip." Said Morrow. "Then we'll grill them via MTAC tomorrow."

His arms were around her waist and hers around his neck, swaying slowly to the rhythm of the music. They were closer than was considered appropriate for Director and subordinate, but it _was _Valentine's Day, and they were determined to enjoy it like everyone else in the room.

Jenny was humming softly to the song, closing her eyes and relaxing herself. Being near Jethro was calming – she was under a lot of pressure, especially because of the people surrounding them and the judgmental looks they were giving them, and also because the press was there, scrutinizing everyone, watching everyone, and possibly looking for a story that would most likely appear on the gossip column of every newspaper across the state.

"You okay, Jen?" he asked, looking down at her.

He had felt her tense up at the sight of the reporters that were currently on a stakeout outside the hall, so he had steered them in another direction, where neither of them could see the entrance or their table.

She nodded slightly, pulling him closer by wrapping her arms tighter around his neck and leant her head on his cheat, breathing in his scent.

He gave her a light peck on the top of her head and buried his nose in her hair, holding her close against him and staying in that position until the song ended.

"D'you want me to get a drink for you?" he asked, as they stepped out of the dance floor hand-in-hand.

"Come on," she said, tugging his hand towards the drinks and small bites area. "We'll get one together."

She noticed the look of surprise on his face and she laughed.

"I'm not the type of woman who expects her boyfriend to wait on her hand and foot at the party, Jethro." She said, hugging his arm. "And I like being able to make the first move."

"I will remember that." Said Jethro, handing her a glass of champagne before she could grab one.

"Director Shepard!" called a voice. "How nice to see you again!"

Jenny closed her eyes and sighed before pasting a plastic smile and muttering, "Here we go," before turning around to greet someone who was clearly only interested in her _assets._

As he watched Jenny smile and talk to the man who he had come to know as Senator Benjamin Andrews, who was clearly flirting with Jenny, he couldn't help but feel a tiny bit possessive of her, and he wrapped and arm around her waist and pulled her close.

Jenny felt his arm going around her waist, so she leaned into him.

They watched as Senator Andrews _finally _gave up on asking Jenny to dance after she repeatedly declined his offer. She turned to Jethro.

"You don't really think I was going to dance with the bag full of douche, do you?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged, and she rolled her eyes. "He's married, Jethro. Though he _does _have a couple of mistresses – but I won't be _the other woman_."

"Doesn't stop me from being jealous every time someone flirts with you." He said, staring stonily ahead.

She tilted her head, put a hand at the back of his neck and pulled him in, kissing him passionately.

They pulled away and noticed that several people surrounding them were staring at them, including SECNAV and Morrow. Jenny, however, wouldn't have that, and neither would Jethro, so they spun around to face their audience and glared at them, making them shift uncomfortably. They slowly began to walk away, though SECNAV and Morrow did approach them as the party started to get more party-ish.

"Director SHepard," said SECNAV briskly. "Morrow and I have decided to discuss _this – " _he gestured between Jenny and Jethro. " – in MTAC tomorrow at 0930 sharp."

"Of course, sir." Said Jenny and Jethro nodded.

She shared a worried look with Jethro as Davenport and Morrow excused themselves and decided to finally pay attention to their wives.

"I'm not sure I'm surprised." Said a familiar voice from behind them.

They turned and came face-to-face with Leon Vance and his wife.

"Leon!" said Jenny, smiling widely, hugging him like a brother.

The two men shook hand warmly – Jethro had gained a lot of respect for the man in front of him since the Katherine case. He had defended Jenny against SECNAV, who had berated her harshly for what she had done, going up to Katherine and facing the French woman by herself.

"This is my wife, Jackie." He introduced his wife proudly.

"Nice to finally meet you," said Jenny, shaking her hand. "Leon has told me so much about you – and your excellent skills of being able to put him in his place."

"Ah well, sometimes I have to remind him that he isn't Assistant Director at home. You know how they get."

The two women shared a look of mutual understanding and turned to the men, who watched them with raised eyebrows, leaving them wondering if it was a mistake to introduce them.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

They had decided to leave when it was near eleven, after countless dances together. He had almost shot Jefferies when he had asked Jenny to dance, and he was pretty sure Jefferies' date was about to do the same to Jenny from across the room, but Jenny politely declined his offer and turned to Jethro, intertwining her fingers with his.

Other than that minor mishap, the rest of the night was wonderful.

"Jethro," said Jenny, looking at him as he turned right instead of left at the intersection. "You're going the wrong way."

But he just continued driving.

"I still want our Valentine's Day together," he said. "Besides, your sisters would kill me if I brought you home this early."

Jenny just rolled her eyes and leant her head against the door and closed her eyes.

When they reached his house, he presented her with a bouquet of of assorted flowers – roses, orchids, chrysanthemums, daisies – you name it, she held it in her hand.

"Happy Valentine's Day." He whispered in her ear.

She smiled at the gift – it was just so like Jethro to think of something unique to give her.

"Thank you," she said softly.

She gave him a warm, tender kiss and said, "Happy Valentine's Day."

He kissed her passionately, and she laid the flowers on the nearest surface as she responded.

There was the sound of laughter as he carried her up the stairs, and then the sound of a door slamming.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it!

Don't forget to leave a review!

\- Natalia


	11. The Meeting

Author's Note: Hey ya'll! Happy Belated New Year! I promised some reviewers that this chapter would be up last week (Sorry guys!) but the school just started and I'm totally piled with homework right now I can't even. I'l try to update whenever I can, but right now my update schedule is pretty unorganised. Again, I'm so sorry to people who have been waiting for this chapter, but it's finally here! Oh, some OOC, especially big ones on SECNNAV's part.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS **

**ENJOY!**

* * *

The next morning, at exactly 0915, Jenny and Jethro went into MTAC and cleared everyone out except Cynthia, whom Jenny appointed to do the tech work, because she trusted Cynthia the most.

As they waited for the next fifteen minutes to pass, Jenny and Jethro bickered as usual while Cynthia sat in the corner, snickering at them. Jethro shot her a glare that she was unfazed by while Jenny told him not to look at her assistant like that.

Sooner than later, 0930 came and Cynthia opened the feed.

"Director," greeted SECNAV and Morrow as they appeared on the screen.

"SECNAV, Morrow." Jenny greeted. Jethro just nodded in response.

"Jenny – what do you think you're _doing?_" demanded SECNAV. "Starting a relationship with one of your agents – the press are all over it –" he held up a copy of _Stars &amp; Stripes _with a big, blow-up photo of them kissing at the ball the night before, the headlines entitled '_FIRST FEMALE DIRECTOR OF AN ARMED FEDERAL AGENCY HAVING LOVE AFFAIR WITH ONE OF HER LEADING AGENTS' _ "Couldn't you have kept it a secret?"

"We've been keeping it a secret for over a year now, sir." Snapped Jenny. She didn't like her personal life being discussed in the papers, and she _certainly _didn't like the fact that it was being discussed in MTAC, with her significant other, her boss, and her ex-boss.

She glared at her boss, refusing to feel ashamed about the best thing that's ever happened to her.

"_What?_" roared SECNAV, and Jethro felt Jenny tense up beside him. "You've been doing this behind my back?"

"A minute ago it, this wasn't about the fact that we were doing this behind your back – it was about the press." Said Jethro calmly, wrapping an arm around Jenny's waist and pulling her closer to his side.

Jenny smiled up at him, silently thanking him for his support. He smiled back softly.

"Well then," said Morrow finally. "This isn't a one-time thing, then?"

The couple shook their heads and SECNAV glared at Jenny.

"What were you _thinking?_" berated SECNAV. "_How _could you start a relationship with a subordinate and not expect this to _not_ make it the tabloids?"

"We didn't say that we didn't expect this to make it to the tabloids, sir." Said Jenny, glaring at him with equal intensity. "We simply do not give a _damn _what they say."

"Did you two honestly think I would be okay with this?" asked SECNAV angrily.

"Phillip," warned Morrow – they had agreed not to meddle in their affairs any further than what they did to the press.

"I will not stand idly by while you two start a _sex scandal –"_

"This is _not _ a scandal," said Jenny sharply, and Jethro inhaled – he had heard that voice before, and if he had hoped that he never needed to hear it again – because it meant that she was _beyond angry, _and that meant that SECNAV was most probably going to get his ass whooped. "I'm starting a _relationship _with someone I love _very _much, and with all due respect, sir, I don't give a flying _fuck _about what _anybody _thinks about me – including you."

Jethro, Morrow and Cynthia cringed together while SECNAV stared at her with a mix of shock and anger.

"And if you expect me to stop this relationship because you're afraid of a _sex scandal_ –" she paused and took a deep breath. "Then you'll have my resignation letter on your desk by sundown. "

She violently took off her headset and threw it on the ground, stomping up the ramp and out of MTAC, slamming the door roughly as she went and making Cynthia cringe once more.

SECNAV and Morrow stared at the spot that Jenny had just vacated, open-mouthed and slightly shocked at her outburst. Jethro was equally stunned, though he didn't show it. He turned back to the monitor.

"I suppose she got that from you?" said SECNAV, looking back at Jethro and raising an eyebrow.

"Nah," said Jethro, shaking his head. "She was born with it."

"What do you suppose we do, Tom?" asked SECNAV.

"It seems pretty clear they're not stopping this," said Tom. "So you can either fire Jenny, or be okay with this."

"Well, it's clear that there will be no replacement for Jenny," said SECNAV.

"Wait, what?" asked Jethro, not understanding. Wasn't Vance Assistant Director.

"You're A.D made it clear last night at the ball that if I fired Jenny because of _this_, he would resign immediately." Said SECNAV grudgingly, wondering how Jenny made so many people loyal to her in her short reign as Director. Jethro smirked, silently thanking Leon Vance. "And since there are no other suitable candidates for the job, I guess I will be forced to accept the fact that you two are involved with each other –"

"_Leroy. Jethro. Gibbs." _Came a deadly voice as the door slammed. Jethro inhaled again sharply – she was doing the voice that she had been doing before she left. "It isn't even _ten a.m. _and you've already found a way to royally _piss me off_, you nuisance!"

Jenny stormed back down the ramp, and SECNAV and Morrow watched, a slight smirk gracing their features.

"Wha – I didn't –" stammered Jethro.

"_Don't _you start with me, Jethro!" said Jenny angrily, holding up a hand. "Did you see the news? Every news channel is buzzing about the fact that you 'do not give a _damn_ what the press thinks' –"

"What – I didn't say that – Jen! – they're editing it, I didn't say that!" repeated Jethro.

"Jethro, I don't want to hear it! I _told _you specifically that when someone shoves camera up your ass stick with _'No. Comment.'. _Is that so hard to do? Goddamn it, Jethro, you're an effing _headache –"_

"Now I'm a headache - ?"

"No, Jethro – you're a – you're a _headache, stomach ache, chest ache_ – goddamn it, you're a fucking _period!" _she shouted.

At the last statement, Cynthia let out a muffled laugh – even SECNAV and Morrow were smiling, extremely amused at a terrified Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Jenny walked up the ramp again.

"Honestly, Jethro, next time, _you _clean up _my _mess while _I _piss the media off!" she said angrily, slamming the door again.

There was a moment of silence in MTAC.

"On second thought, Jennifer Shepard shall stay as Director of NCIS as long as I live." Declared SECNAV, laughing at the look on Jethro's face.

"Note: to control Leroy Jethro Gibbs, scream uncontrollably and call him a period." Teased Morrow.

Jethro rolled his eyes and glared at Cynthia, who was still laughing silently.

"Well then, Phillip, we agree that anyone who can scare Gibbs is a win," said Morrow.

"Definitely," agreed SECNAV, but his voice turned from amused to a warning tone as he addressed Jethro. "But don't let me catch you getting personal while you're on the job."

"Of course, sir." Said Jethro.

"Well then, that's that." Concluded SECNAV. He bade goodbye to Jethro and Morrow, and they responded in kind.

A second later, the screen went blank.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

Cynthia watched, completely amused but trying to hide it, as Jethro paced up and down her office, looking at the Director's door and hesitating on whether to enter or not.

"Would you like me to page the Director first?" offered Cynthia.

Jethro shook his head and made up his mind. If he was going to die today, he'd rather it be sooner than later.

The moment he opened the door, he was greeted by Jenny's all-too-famous glare. And he tried to escape, but as soon as he opened the door, she said, "If you go _out_ that door, you are _never _stepping foot in this building _ever _again."

He closed his eyes and gulped, closing the door slowly. The moment the door closed, Jenny stood up, walked over to Jethro and gave him a well-deserved punch in the arm.

"Ow – Je-en!" he whined.

"Honestly, Jethro, _don't _piss me off again." She warned.

Then, she smiled, and put her arms around Jethro, hugging him tightly. He frowned at the sudden change, but welcomed it nevertheless.

"What did SECNAV say after I left?" asked Jenny.

"The first time or the second time?"

"Both."

"The first time he said that he was going to have to force himself to accept the fact that we're together because there's no other suitable candidate for the position – Leon said that he'd quit if he fired you because of this." Said Jethro and Jenny bit her lip, smiling and silently thanking her friend. "The second time he said he changed his mind, because anyone who can intimidate me needs to stay."

He pouted as she laughed and she kissed him softly.

"So it all worked out?" she asked softly, and he nodded.

She smiled brightly at him and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder and kissing his neck softly.

They stayed like that for a while before Jethro said he had to go for updates on the case, promising to see her for dinner.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"Director, you have a lunch appointment with you sisters in five minutes." Reminded Cynthia.

"Right, thank you, Cynthia."

"You're welcome, Director."

Jenny got out of her office and speed-walked to the bullpen, wanting to get an update on the case before going out for lunch.

As soon as the team saw her, they got up and explained the case and their progress, knowing what she wanted because it was already part of their procedure at this point.

She smiled once they finished and dismissed the team for their lunch, rolling her eyes when Jethro tried to play the 'I'm their boss' card.

"Yes, and I'm _your_ boss, Jethro, and all of you work for _me_ – so deal with it." She said, folding her arms.

The team shuffled out after promising to get take-out and come back as soon as they can. Jenny smiled sweetly at Jethro, going behind his chair and wrapping her arms around his neck. She started pressing soft, sweet kisses to his neck and shoulder area.

"Last night was wonderful," she whispered sexily into his ear, "You think we could do that again?"

"We can do that again anytime you want," he whispered back slightly aroused.

"Mm. I thought so."

She continued peppering tender kisses, sucking and licking the skin on his neck. They were both interrupted by the sound of someone clearing her throat.

They sprung apart, partially annoyed at being interrupted and slightly embarrassed at being caught.

"You go, Jenny!" cheered Jade, winking suggestively at them.

Amelia rolled her eyes and Heather shook her head.

"Really? In the _middle _of the bullpen?" she asked, slightly exasperated.

Jenny shrugged and Heather rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, _your _sisters have completely _lost it_." Said Heather, just as the team came strolling back in with their food.

They tried to hide their smiles at the sight of Jenny's sisters – they had been their daily source of entertainment every time they came to pick Jenny up for lunch. They greeted the redheads and took their seats, waiting with their bag of takeout, Ziva passing Gibbs his usual before taking hers.

"They never _had _it," said Jenny, putting a hand on her hip. "What've they done now?"

"They're going back to New York."

"What?"

"_Tomorrow_."

"_What?_"

Heather nodded and Jenny looked at the other two redheads in disbelief.

"And you're only telling us this _one day _before you were leaving?" she almost shouted, gripping onto the back of Gibbs' chair, lowering her head and counting to ten to calm herself down.

"Jenny, we know you're upset, but can we please take this discussion elsewhere?" said Amelia politely.

Jenny shook her head, grabbed her coat from where it laid on Jethro's table and put it on, beckoning for her sisters to follow her.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

They were in a diner now and softly arguing in sort of a cross between hissing, whispering and shouting kind of voice.

"What do you mean you didn't want to ruin my Valentine's Day with Jethro?" hissed Jenny. "Don't you use that as an excuse, Amelia Grace, or you, Jade Lynn, because some kind of _warning_-"

"It's true!" Jade hissed back viciously, in a shouting but whispering voice. "Since we came you guys spent like only _one _full week together where you didn't have any interruptions and that was _months_ ago, Jenny."

"You could've told me – told _us _– earlier, we would've understood-" added Heather, as a waitress raised an eyebrow in amusement behind the counter.

"_How _many times have we told you it was a _last minute _assignment from our bosses?" said Amelia defensively. "And Jade's right – you didn't spend _nearly _enough time with Jethro as you should've and it was Valentine's Day! You guys were supposed to enjoy it as a _couple, _not with eating candlelit dinners in the living room watching _Grease_ with your three sisters and Noemi watching like voyeurs-"

"_Who _said I would've stayed in that night if you had told me then?" said Jenny, and three heads turned to her, raising their eyebrows in an I-know-you sort of way.

"Are you saying that you wouldn't have?" asked Jade.

"You would've wanted to spend the last few days you get to see two of your sisters, whom you only see twice or three times a year, _with _them, and _not _with your neglected boyfriend, even if it _was _Valentine's Day." Said Amelia smartly.

Jenny shook her head.

"I still can't believe you guys are leaving tomorrow," she said sadly, as their food was served.

"We'll still come back," assured Amelia. "We have Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and then New Year's-"

"Amelia, those are at the end of the year," said Jenny, looking annoyed. "We've only _just _started 2014."

"I know, but it's not like we're leaving forever," said Jade, looking at her sister. "We could Skype and stuff, and I could show you my sketches for my new line – I can even get you guys free clothes once it comes out."

Jenny looked a bit more relieved – she only ever saw her sisters twice or three times a year, and before Katherine, they had promised to each take a year off to spend time together, and Jenny had been looking forward to being surrounded by her sisters – she had missed their arguments and petty bickers and sexual references about everything, and the thought that she was going to have that for an entire year had really made her happier.

But then, of course, it was inevitable that life would interfere with their plans – first Katherine, now this? Jenny really should've seen it coming.

She probably wouldn't see Jade or Amelia in person until Thanksgiving, but that was okay, because life happens.

Life moves forward, to the future.

And she will too.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"Hey," said Jethro, looking up to the basement staircase, surprised to find Jenny there. "What're you doing here? I thought you went home after dinner."

She shrugged, continuing her journey down the stairs cautiously.

"I thought you wanted to spend time with your sisters since they were going home tomorrow," said Jethro, tilting his head slightly.

"Amelia told me that you knew they were going to leave. Why didn't you tell me?" she said, ignoring his implied question.

"She told me not to tell you," he answered.

"You could've told me anyways-"

"And what, ruin the one time we could spend the night with each other?" said Jethro. "I wanted to be with you, Jen. Alone. No sisters, no interruptions. We haven't had that since your sisters came. I wanted to lie down beside you and make love to you. Was that so bad?"

"No," she said softly. "No it wasn't"

"If someone close to me told you to keep a secret from me, would you have done so?"

"Of course,"

"Then you see my point." Said Jethro. He sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. It's just that – it was our _first _Valentine's Day since 1999. I didn't want you to be sad," he came closer to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "I don't ever want to see you sad."

Last year, they didn't get to spend Valentine's day together, because she had gone away to Europe for a conference, but it wouldn't have mattered if she was with him anyway, because that very week, they had had five opened and unsolved cases.

Jenny nodded.

"I didn't realise – I thought you were okay – with me and my sisters – I mean, I didn't know –" she struggled to find the right words.

"I was okay with you spending time with your sisters," he said softly, "I just wished we had more time than just dinners together."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But you could've said something, I would've understood."

He shrugged.

"You looked very happy." He said. "And I love seeing you happy."

She gave him a soft smile and a passionate but tender kiss.

"I love you," she said softly as she pressed their foreheads against each other.

"I love you too," he replied, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

* * *

So there ya go! What was your favourite part of the chapter? I thought that calling Jethro a period was pretty funny(hehe) and I'm so proud because I made that joke up by myself and it wasn't copyright at all :)

Oh, and thank you guys so much for putting up with my erratic update schedule, and for those who reviewed last chapter, thanks a bunch!

Don't forget to tell me what you like and what you don't in a review!

The next update will be for On The Job, so look out for that one ;)

Adios!

\- Natalia


	12. Farewell, Jade And Amelia!

Author's Note: So... the awkward moment when you promise yourself to update once a month and you haven't updated for almost three months. hehe. Anyway, as you read this chapter, there'll be a major twist to one of the characters. Read and find out who!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

She opened her eyes slowly, dreading the moment that would come. She would put up a brave front, of course – all of them would. But though their outsides were made of steel, their insides were as fragile as glass.

It was almost seven o'clock – she had only eleven more hours to spend with two of her sisters. She rolled over in her bed, smiling softly when she saw the man beside her. Yesterday, they had made love countless times – he was gentle, loving and caring in every touch, every kiss.

She reached a hand towards his face and laid it gently on his cheek, caressing softly. She sat up, resting her weight on the other elbow and softly kissed him awake.

"Mm," he said softly, kissing her back passionately.

They broke away and she leant her forehead on his. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her on top of him. She straddled him comfortably, leaning down and pressing his lips onto hers again. They kissed for a while before she placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away slowly.

"We should probably get up," she said in between kisses, for when she pushed away, he leant up and continued their passionate kisses. "I've got a full day ahead of me."

He rolled over so he was on top of her, ignoring her less than convincing excuses that she had to get up for work; it was hardly even six. He bent his head down and pressed his lips to her neck, nipping and kissing softly.

"Jethro," she moaned.

He continued kissing her gently, his lips moving over hers. He broke the kiss and leant his forehead onto hers, nipping at her lips and kissing her face.

"Stay awhile," he said.

She smiled sweetly and bit her lip, hesitating. He saw the hesitation in her eyes and kissed her again, more insistent this time. She moaned into the kiss and gave up trying to resist him, though she knew she never really could.

Just as things were starting to get more passionate and hands were starting to move to inappropriate places, her phone rang.

He swore loudly but continued kissing every part he could reach as she retrieved her phone from the bedside table and answered it.

"Shepard," she said softly, her voice slightly breathless from all the kissing they'd been doing.

His lips still touched every part it could as she talked on the phone, and he ignored the glares he received from her.

"Alright Director Blackwell, I'll see what I can do about it." She said into the phone.

His lips stopped kissing her neck at the mention of the name, and he waited till she hung up.

"Blackwell?" he asked her, a dark look in his eyes. "Isn't that the guy you went out with a few years ago?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Yes – _years_ ago." She said, with extra emphasis on 'years'. "Which means that it was a long time ago – and the fact that he is _happily married _with _five children _–"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Said Jethro, smiling. "But the fact that it was years ago doesn't change anything. You were with me six years ago and you still loved me until now."

"But that's different – it was _you_."

She leant her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his middle and snuggling into him; she loved the comfort he provided her. He held her carefully, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He smiled, resting his chin on her head.

She sighed sadly.

"Jade and Amelia are going home today." She said softly.

"Yeah,"

"I'll miss them." She said, sighing again.

"I'll still be here," he said, holding her tighter against him.

"Unfortunately," she smirked, and he playfully glared at her as she laughed. Once her laughter subsided, she squeezed her arms around him tighter and said, "I won't ever have to worry about you leaving, though."

"Yeah," he agreed.

"You won't have to worry about me leaving either." She said softly.

"I know," he said.

They stayed like that for an hour, taking comfort in the fact that they weren't ever leaving each other.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~JIBBS ~

"I want to make the most of this day," said Amelia softly as the four of them entered a café.

The twins would've joined them, if they hadn't been called to work last minute because of shortage of staff.

Heather nodded in agreement.

"Can you guys stop being so emotional?" teased Jade. "Just add someone dead, black outfits and one of us with a deadly disease and you have a classic soap opera."

Amelia rolled her eyes.

"You're so _funny,_ Jade." Said Amelia sarcastically. "You should really be a comedienne."

Heather shook her head, thinking how they would never change. She ignored them and sat down at a table. Her sisters followed suit. Heather looked around for the waiter, but caught the eye of a handsome man sitting alone at the corner of the café. She smiled charmingly, and he smiled back politely. Her eyes raked over his appearance and she decided he was _very _good looking.

He appeared to be a little over a year older than her, but age didn't matter – at least to her. He was wearing a striped polo with blue jeans and had the most captivating chocolate brown eyes she had ever seen. He had short, thick brown hair in a neatly kept hairstyle. He was _definitely _a keeper.

Jenny noticed her sister looking at a guy and smiled. She had a feeling it had been a long time since Heather had seen someone that she liked at first glance.

"Go ask him out," she urged her sister.

Heather smiled and ducked her head, shaking her head.

"No, I haven't went out with someone for a long time and I think he's just smiling because I smiled first – it doesn't matter." She said quickly. Then, as what Jenny recognised as a distraction tactic, she asked if everybody knew what they wanted to order.

Somehow, as they were eating, the conversation turned to what the girls found sexy in a man, and Jenny smirked as she heard what Amelia thought was sexy.

"That's disgusting, Amelia. No wonder you haven't had a date since high school." Said Jade scaldingly.

"At least I _had _a date in high school." Retorted Amelia. "And a lot of people find men with moustaches sexy."

"It's a _rodent _on top of a _lip_, Amelia –"

"Heather, your turn." Said Jenny, before Jade could come up with another reply that would inevitably lead to a fight in public.

"I don't think we need to actually get her to speak to find out – look at her." Said Amelia, amused at her older sister.

It was true. Heather was, once again, staring at the attractive man at the corner of the café. The three sisters followed her gaze and Jade nodded, giving her approval.

"He looks good." She commented.

"Why don't you just ask him out?" asked Amelia softly.

"I told her to just now, she doesn't want to act on her obvious crush." Said Jenny, shaking her head. "Honestly, Heather, you should just give it a try. You'll never know if you don't approach him."

But she shook her head stubbornly, turning back to her plate of chicken pot pie.

"Heather, why can't you just –"

"Seriously, it couldn't hurt –"

"Just do it, ask him for –"

"Can we just drop it? Please?" snapped Heather.

"Fine." Huffed Jade. "Geez, _someone _woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"You wouldn't know, would you? A man always seems to be on one side of yours." Came the rebuttal from Heather.

Jenny and Amelia looked at each other with a tight-lipped smile and an amused look on their faces. Rare was the occasion that Heather took a jab at Jade's sex life, and it always turned out to be one of the most scalding conversations among the Shepards.

"At least I _have _a man in my bed." said Jade, not looking the least bit offended.

"Men." said Heather.

"What?"

"You have _men _in your bed." She corrected.

"Yeah well, better than none." Said Jade, flipping her hair over her shoulder and sipping on her iced tea.

"You wouldn't know what it's like to sleep alone – _you've _never spent the night alone since the day you turned sixteen."

"Fifteen."

"That's not something to be proud of."

"_I'll_ be the judge of that."

"Are you _really_ sure about that?"

"Ladies?"

The two redheads arguing jumped a mile in the air while the other two watched and laughed loudly. Heather and Jade glared at them, but that only made Amelia and Jenny laugh louder. Heather turned to the person who interrupted them with a glare, but her eyes immediately softened once she saw that it was the adorable, gorgeous man that she saw sitting in the corner earlier. As this was happening, Jenny took a blank slip of paper out of her purse and carefully placed it within Heather's reach.

"I'm so sorry." He said apologetically. He had a very deep, manly voice and spoke with an English accent. "I just couldn't help but notice you come in just now."

Heather smiled shyly at him, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously.

"My name is Dylan." He said charmingly, holding his hand out.

"Heather." She introduced herself, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "These are my sisters, Jade, Amelia and Jenny."

He smiled at each of them as they were introduced, but his eyes returned back to Heather's.

"Apologies for interrupting." He said. "I haven't done this for quite a while – but I thought it worth the risk – may I have your number?"

He sounded hopeful, and Heather had the impression he was a gentleman - but she couldn't help but feel a bit hesitant – the last man she had been with had cheated on her – but Jenny, who was beside her, gave her a little nudge.

In her hesitancy, Dylan had taken it as a no and began to apologise profusely.

"I'm really sorry for intruding –"

"No, wait – here." Said Heather, finding the piece of paper Jenny had discretely put on the table earlier and scribbling her number down on it.

Dylan smiled charmingly again.

"Thank you, Heather." He looked directly into her eyes, pausing for a moment before addressing everyone else. "Have a nice day, ladies."

"You too!" they chorused.

The moment Dylan was out of earshot, the younger redheads started teasing their older sister.

"Ooooh, Heather's got a crush!" said Amelia with a school-girl like giggle.

"Shut up!" said Heather, blushing redder than her hair.

"Why were you hesitating?" said Jenny. "You're obviously attracted to the guy."

"I married my high-school sweetheart, Jenny." Said Heather exasperatedly. "He cheated on me with a prostitute and then proceeded to try and get me back. The first date I had after I was divorced was when Eddie crashed in, so excuse me if I doubted my judgement on guys."

"Not all guys are cheating scumbags, Heather." Said Jade. "If we have to use an example, look at Gibbs."

Heather felt a bit more comforted. She frowned as she realised something.

"How come there was a blank piece of paper ready for me on the table?"

Three heads turned towards the youngest of the four redheads. Jenny's face turned hot and red as she became increasingly interested in the cup of coffee she was drinking.

NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"Come on guys, we're gonna miss our flight!" said Amelia, clearly stressed out.

"We're literally _two hours _early." Said Jade lazily, taking her time to get out of the car.

"We're gonna take thirty minutes to decide where to eat dinner, then thirty minutes to decide what to eat, then another thirty to wait for the food – "

"Don't exaggerate, honestly." Said Jenny, stepping out of the car. "Come on, Jethro."

But instead of a man, two teenage redheads stepped out of the car.

"That was the loudest car ride of my life." said Lina, gratefully stepping out of the car.

"Ditto." Said Ariele, following her twin. "Arguing every five seconds, you'd think we were in a kindergarten than in a car filled with _grown adults_."

"We can here you, you know." Said Amelia loudly.

"Why do you think we're talking so loudly?" said Ariele, stepping aside to let Heather out.

"Where's Jethro?" asked Jenny.

"Here." He said, stepping out of the driver's seat.

"Why were you in there so long?"

"Umm…"

"A little help here?" said Amelia, who was struggling with a suitcase.

The suitcase was almost bulging – it was clear it wasn't big enough to hold everything inside it.

"Why did you stuff everything into one suitcase?" asked Heather.

Amelia cast a sideway glance at Jade as Jethro helped her lift it from the trunk of the car. Jade ignored them.

"Come on, let's go for dinner." She said, thanking Jethro for helping with her suitcase.

The group walked together, chattering and laughing as they looked for a suitable place to eat. Once settling on an exquisite-looking restaurant that sold high-class Italian and French food, the group happily waited to be seated.

"Table for seven, please." Said Amelia politely to the waiter.

The waiter nodded, smiled, grabbed seven menus and led them to their table at the other end of the restaurant. The four sisters sat on one side of the table while Jethro and the twins sat on the other.

Ten minutes passed and their food had been ordered. The twins were laughing at some photos beside Jethro, who sneaked a peek and could only make out the word 'Instagram' at the top of the phone in curly font. Amelia and Jade were in deep discussion and Heather and Jenny were just chatting.

"I need to go to the ladies'." Said Amelia suddenly. "Does anyone else need to go?"

To Jethro's horror, one by one, the girls stood up – everyone that is, except for Jade. She sat there and politely declined. Jenny flashed a worried look in Jethro's direction, but she trusted him enough not to do anything stupid. He flashed her a smile.

The silence was deafeningly awkward at the table, until Jade cleared her throat.

"Right," she started, looking at him with a determined look in her eyes that he had never seen before. "I know Amelia probably talked to you yesterday, and we've had some conversations about this, but I felt the need to reiterate it."

Jethro had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, but didn't show it.

"I know Jenny's probably told you that I have a reputation with men – I don't. That was in the past, I've moved on from, what I call, the slut-stage, and I've actually been over that for a decade."

"Then why do you – "

"Continue to act like that?" she smirked, taking a sip of the red wine she was having. "I like keeping up appearances. But that isn't the point. I want you to promise you'll take care of the girls while Amelia and I are away."

He nodded – she didn't really have to ask.

"I want you to make sure they don't screw up or break down. I need you to make sure they're safe – especially Jenny. I know that she's a trained agent, I've seen her fight and shoot before – but she's extremely vulnerable once you get a hold on her – "

"I know that," he said softly. "We've been together before this."

"Paris." She nodded. She continued. "If anything happens, I need you to contact me and Amelia, whatever the situation might be. I want to stay as updated as possible on them, but I can't allow Jenny or the others to contact me."

"Why?"

"Amelia and I have been assigned to work with the CIA by our bosses." She explained. "We were selected and trained about two decades ago in the undercover operations area. We haven't told them because we didn't want them to worry. Our operations are top-secret. I started out as a designer for our agents to help them hide certain weapons in their outfits without being easily seen or detectable when felt for. I went up the ranks with Amelia."

Jethro stared at Jade. Was he hearing right?

"No matter how unconcerned or insensitive I had been for the past few months we were here, it was all because I had to act as the old me that I left behind. My priority is my family – I care about them even more than I let on."

"Even Amelia?" he teased.

She smiled, but said softly, "Especially Amelia. Jenny probably told you about the mistake I made in high school. To Heather and Jenny, I hadn't tried to talk to Amelia for two years after that. But in truth, I was knocking on Amelia's door twice a day – before everyone woke up and after they fell asleep. She ignored me for three years. Until now, I'm not sure she's completely forgiven me yet."

"She will," said Jethro confidently. "If she's anything like the Amelia Jenny's always talking about, she will forgive you."

"So, does that mean that all the fighting you do is fake?" he asked.

She laughed.

"Nope, that's real. Amelia can't stand my old self." Said Jade.

"And you're not a designer?"

"Of course I am." She said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I went to the best fashion school in the world – you think I'm just gonna let that go to waste? By day, I'm a fashion designer, by night, I'm a CIA operative."

He smiled at her as the others approached, and she winked at him.

"Boring him with your bedroom tales?" asked Amelia as she slid into her chair.

Jade rolled her eyes, switching back to her self-absorbed bitchy self. Jethro smirked, thinking about how different the Jade he was talking to a few seconds ago was so different from the Jade he had known from the last few months.

Dinner went by without incident, and the time had come to bid farewell to Amelia and Jade. They took turns to hug the both of them. Jethro was grateful that the goodbye wasn't really tearful, but rather in a 'we'll-see-you-again' kind of way.

"Bye! We'll miss you!" said Heather, waving enthusiastically as they walked away.

"Things will change so much without them here." Sighed Ariele. "No fights, no sex jokes – "

"No making fun of Aunt Jade's sex life." Finished Lina.

"Everything will be fine." Said Jenny, turning around and walking away, leading the group. "We'll adjust. After all, we are the Shepard family."

* * *

I had planned Jade's personality twist for quite some time now. Was it unexpected? Tell me what you think about Jade's story and her conversation with Gibbs!

We're almost at the end of this story, guys - just the epilogue more to go! There'll be two parts of the epilogue that's coming up though, so look out for that!

The next update will be for On The Job.

Please leave a review and tell me what you think!

\- Natalia


	13. Epilogue: Part 1

**Author's Note: **Hi ya'll! I'm back and my head is in the game. I know my updates have taken really long, and I'm really sorry, I just hope that there are people who still read this story, because I'm not really sure. This chapter is one part of a two-part epilogue, which means it's the second last chapter for this story. Again, I apologize for my sporadic updates, I really am trying my best.

This chapter is a but twin-focused, so I hope you guys don't mind.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS.**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

**4 MONTHS LATER, JULY 2014**

**AUDITION DAY**

**THE SHEPARD MANSION**

**0845 HOURS.**

Ariele and Adalina Shepard were sleeping soundly in their bed, apparently unaware – or possibly just ignoring – the consistent shrill ringing of their alarm clock. The two identical twins rolled over without a groan or a mutter, and the clumsier one of the two – Ariele – had drool dripping down her chin. The more sophisticated one, Adalina, snored softly.

They were both in their own, happy dreamlands. Far, far away from where they were now in reality. Hopefully they would get to stay forever and never go back.

"LINA! ARIELE! IF YOU WANT ME TO PERSONALLY DRAG YOUR ASSES UP FOR BREAKFAST I WOULD GLADLY DO SO!" Came the sweet, loud, _unwelcomed_ voice of their _beloved _mother, Heather Shepard. "YOU HAVE TWENTY SECONDS!" Chimed the honey-like voice again.

After being unceremoniously woken up so _rudely_, so _early _into the morning, the twins let out groans just as identical as their physical appearance. The twin sleeping on the left – Ariele – rubbed her eyes and her drool away, looking at her sister.

"I _love _mom. I want to be with her _forever._" She said, her sarcasm unmissed by her twin, who laughed.

"You're on your own, then." She said, casting a look at her sister.

Ariele feigned a look of hurt, and was about to reply to her sister when the same, merry voice called out again:

"WHAT PART OF TWENTY SECONDS DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?"

Which made them look at each other in panic for three seconds before rushing up and out of their basement-bedroom before their remaining seventeen seconds were up.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

It was exactly eighteen seconds – Heather had counted – before the twins showed up at the kitchen with their bedheads, glaring at their mother, possibly for interrupting the five hours of sleep they had had last night, due to the feeling of anxiousness at their audition. Upon receiving the twins' glare, Heather raised an eyebrow and tilted her head at them before turning around to her younger sister, Jenny, who was by the stove and making some scrambled eggs. The two older sisters shared a smirk.

"Geez, you'd think after getting laid you'd be a bit more cheerful in the mornings." Said Lina, referring to Dylan, the man she had met almost exactly four months ago, on the day that Jade and Amelia had left.

Their relationship had really blossomed since that first day – their first date was at the café they had met in – they seemed to have a common taste in pastries. After their first date, Heather had come home, embarrassed, half sure that she would never hear from him again – but was pleasantly surprised when he called again, three days later, offering to go out for dinner this time. Since then, they had become more comfortable with each other, and they were learning more about one another, but Jenny could already see Heather falling in love with Dylan, and Dylan with Heather. She was already in love after all, so she recognised the little signs in one another. Heather had even confided in Jenny that she hadn't felt like this before – not even with Eddie. Speaking of Eddie, Dylan was aware that he was an ex-husband and nothing more to Heather; he had admitted to Jenny that he wasn't aware of what had happened between them because Heather hadn't told him, but he was confident that when she was ready, she would.

As for the twins, they were thrilled that their mom, who had endured so much to try to take care of them on their own, had finally found someone who made her happy. Plus, Dylan and the twins liked each other and they found themselves liking Dylan more and more every time they hung out – he just seemed so cool and so down to earth that they immediately took a liking to him. They were looking forward to their mom finally being happy.

Speaking of happy –

"You have no idea." Said Heather dreamily, just to see the grossed look on her daughters' faces – and she was rewarded with it.

"Okay, too much info." Said Ariele, shuddering. "I _never _want to hear about you and Uncle Dylan gettin' it on in the bedroom."

"You should get used to it." Advised Jenny. "Because a few years from now, when you guys finally have your first boyfriends and you start 'gettin' it on' –" she made quotation marks in the air with her fingers, " you guys are gonna hear _all _about what happened. Trust me."

She divided the scrambled eggs into four plates and slid one to each of them, leaving the last – and the one that had the biggest serving – for herself. She ignored the look of disgust the twins were giving her, and she could almost _hear _the silent agreement made between them – that they were never _ever _going to share stories about sex because, who the hell does that anyway?

"What time is your audition?" asked Heather.

"Mine's eleven twenty-five. Ariele's is eleven thirty-five." Said Lina, biting into her eggs. "Is there cheese in this?"

"Jethro will be coming by to pick you up at ten forty-five, so make sure you get ready before then." Said Jenny. "And yes, I added mozzarella. Why, does it taste funny?"

"_Au contraire," _said Ariele in perfect French. "I love this."

Jenny smiled, looking pleased with herself.

Her phone began buzzing, but it wasn't an ordinary call – it was a Skype call, and she stared at the contact number, excitement coursing through her.

_Jade Shepard (SLUT)_

She hit accept and started squealing when she saw not only Jade, but Amelia on the screen as well.

"Oh my God guys, finally after _four _damn months you decide to contact us – honestly, where were you guys? Why did you guys take so long and did you know that Ariel and Lina's audition day is today?" finished Jenny.

"Whoa, sis, slow down." Said Amelia. She seemed calmer than she had been when they last saw her.

"Yeah, we can hear you. You can stop shouting." Said Jade, covering her ears, though she wore the teasing smile that Jenny remembered. "We want to see the devil and her spawns."

"HEY! WHO'RE YOU CALLING A DEVIL YOU LITTLE TWIT?" shouted Heather, making everyone – including the ones on the phone screen cover their ears. "Honestly, you haven't seen me in four months –_ four months_ – and the first thing I hear you call me is 'the devil' honestly, just because Lina and Ariele _are _devil spawns, that does not mean I'm the devil okay!"

"We miss you too, Heather." Chuckled Amelia. Jade gave Heather a virtual hug that Heather returned.

"Is anyone gonna address the fact that mom just called us 'devil spawns'?" asked Lina, as she and Ariele came into view of their two aunts overseas.

"Hey! How's my two favourite nieces on their audition day? Feelin' alright?" said Amelia, smiling at them. Amelia had always been quite fond of the two twins and the feeling was mutual between them.

"We're fine – we've been practising a lot for the past couple of months so we're quite confident." Said Ariele. "How's New York?"

"Beautiful." Said Jade, before Amelia said anything. Jenny noticed that Amelia gave Jade a funny look.

"We really can't stay to chit-chat, guys, we really just wanted to call and wish the twins good luck. We'll see you when we next call you!"

They said their goodbyes as Jenny pasted a fake smile on her face and waved at them through the camera. Once they hung up, Jenny waited for the twins to go out of the kitchen before speaking to Heather.

"Did you notice anything strange about Jade and Amelia when Ariele asked how New York was?" asked Jenny.

Heather shook her head.

"Amelia looked like she wanted to say something else that we would be pleased by – and then Jade cut in and said it was 'beautiful', and Amelia gave her a funny look." She said. Heather frowned. "I looked at the background, Jade was driving, and she's always careful when she drives, so when she made a turn – guess what I saw?"

"Georgetown Street." Said a familiar voice behind them.

The two whipped around and saw Jade and Amelia standing behind them, smiling widely with their suitcases behind them. Heather and Jenny's eyes widened before both of them leapt at the two, enveloping them in a gigantic group hug that seemed to last forever.

"I _knew _Jenny would figure it out first." Said Amelia, smiling.

"She's a trained investigator, obviously she would notice when something seems wrong." Said Jade.

"You guys," Heather shook her head. "Always have to make an entrance, huh?"

"Of course." Said Amelia. "Where's the fun in simply showing up unannounced? It was all planned out, it was all deliberately crafted and it was all Jade's fault so don't blame me."

"Excuse me?" said Jade incredulously as she turned to face Amelia. "You came up with the idea."

"Not anymore."

"We've missed you guys." Smiled Heather, and they all shared a group hug once more.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

After the four sisters cleared up all the confusion with the twins after they saw Jade and Amelia waiting for them in the living room, they all waited for Gibbs, who was on his way there. He had left thirty minutes early because Jenny told him to, but he didn't know why. It was currently only ten thirty.

They were currently just chatting with each other and bringing each other up to speed about what's going on in each other's lives. It had started from their workplaces, where Jade said that she had actually finished designing line that was about to be released the following month and Amelia said she had successfully put three lying criminals behind bars for a long, long time. Jenny didn't have much to say, since all her work is top secret and to be read in, they needed top security clearance and Heather didn't say anything at all since she was still a housewife. However, when they moved the topic on to their love lives, all hell broke loose.

"So I take it you and Gibbs are still together then?" asked Jade casually, leaning against the sofa.

At this, Amelia and Heather rolled their eyes and Jenny laughed.

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Just asking."

"I'm sure."

"Okay then, before Amelia erupts and scolds me for hoping Gibbs is single, how about that hot guy that asked for Heather's number the day we left?" asked Jade, casting a look at Amelia, who huffed indignantly. "What happened after that?"

"Well, actually –"

"They've been going out for almost four months now and they're totally in love but she still won't admit it to him even though he's said it like a _thousand _times already and she keeps on making excuses for not telling him that she loves him so you guys talk to her, I've already tried a million times." Interrupted Jenny, who then spoke so quickly in one breath that the other three actually looked quite impressed.

"Okay, I admit that I haven't said it to him yet –"

"We already know that, you don't have to admit it –"

"_But_ I have_ not _been making excuses." Said Heather, glaring at Jenny for interrupting them again. "When it's the right time, I'll tell him."

"So," said Jade, with a scandalous gleam in her eye. She leaned in slightly towards Heather and said, "How's the sex?"

"So good, we named it." Said Heather nonchalantly.

Jenny gave Heather a half-disgusted, half-surprised look.

"Never knew you had it in you." Said Amelia to Heather, giving her a slightly impressed look.

Before Heather could answer, a knock on the door was heard.

"I'll get it!" said Jenny, standing up and walking to the door. "It's probably Jethro, anyway."

She was proved right when she swung the door open to reveal Jethro, smiling slightly when he saw her. She smiled brightly at him and gave him a kiss.

"Hey," she greeted, when they pulled away.

"Hey." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his arms, giving her a hug. "Missed you."

"Missed you too." She snuggled into him and kissed him again.

He held her head to his chest, intending to kiss her head when a confident, amused voice interrupted.

"I see you two are busy." Said Amelia, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a smirk playing on her face.

Jethro stared at Amelia with surprise. He hadn't let go of Jenny yet, so she was still in his arms when he looked at her in surprise. He smiled as his eyes turned to Amelia.

"Long time no see, Jethro." She smiled back at him, her green eyes showing no sign of surprise that he was there.

"Nice to see you again, Amelia." He greeted back.

He wondered whether Jade and Amelia had told Heather and Jenny the truth of their sudden departure four months ago – that they had not, in fact, been called back by their respective bosses to work on a new fashion line or to work on a new, high profile client – at least, those bosses weren't the ones they were answering to. They had been called back by their bosses at the CIA to work on a highly confidential undercover operation together, and that the reason they hadn't kept in touch was because they couldn't risk contacting anyone outside of the agency, especially when their covers were so deep.

The look she was giving him suggested they hadn't said a word about it and probably had no plans to do anything of the sort. He gave a small inclination of his head that told her he was going to follow her lead, but disguised it as a greeting so hopefully Jenny would look at it that way.

"Is she why you made me come thirty minutes earlier, Jen?" he asked his other half, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I thought you would need a head's up." She said to him, looping his arms around hers and leading him into the living room. "And she's not the only one who came here unannounced."

"Jade," he said immediately as they entered the living room. His eyes instantly found the chocolate eyes of Jade.

"Hello Jethro." She greeted, lifting a glass of red wine at him. "Haven't seen you in a while. How're you?"

"Fine," he shrugged, holding Jenny close to him once they sat down side by side. "Nothing much going on here."

Just then, they heard a voice singing so melodiously and beautifully with a piano in the background. It was a ballad, clearly, and the person singing it executed the notes with such precision that it blended perfectly with the music. In the chorus, the first voice was joined by another, and they both sung accompanied by the piano. They were in perfect harmony.

"They got better." Said Amelia with an approving nod.

In the basement, Lina and Ariele were singing their favourite Celine Dion song, with Ariele on the piano and as harmony. They didn't have the vocal range to pull off a Celine Dion song exactly, so they amended it to their key and stuck to that.

As they were singing, Lina watched Ariele on the piano, her fingers flying over the keys elegantly and easily, as if they were air. They pressed the keys gently until they got to the climax of the song, where they began to crescendo with the piano.

_Believe me,_

_I will make you see_

_All the things that your heart needs to know_

Lina held the note for as long as she could before turning to Ariele, who had stopped playing the piano to stare at her.

"Oh my God," said Lina to her twin, her fingers touching her lips and her face an expression of shock. "I did it. I did it!" she said again, jumping around happily. "I've never held that note properly before! Ariele, I did it!"

She pulled her twin up and they started jumping around in circles and chanting, "I did it!" or, in Ariele's case, "You did it!"

"You'll kill that audition." said Ariele confidently.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

They arrived at Washington School of the Arts at exactly eleven o'clock. They had taken Jenny's SUV there, as it was the only car big enough to accommodate everyone that went. Dylan hadn't been able to make it, but he had sent them a text message and called them for a little while to chat and wish them good luck. Now, they were all just getting out of the car and hugging the twins.

"You'll do good, kiddos." said Gibbs, pulling them both into a hug. They mumbled their thanks and smiled at him before he stepped back and let the four redheads step in front.

"Good luck, sweethearts." said Amelia affectionately, giving them a kiss on the cheek.

"You go in and show them how to sing." said Jade proudly, giving the twins a tight hug.

"Don't worry, guys." Said Jenny comfortingly. She could see the nervousness in the twins' faces. "You guys are gonna be just fine. You've been practicing so hard."

"Yeah," agreed Heather, coming up in front of her daughters and wrapping her arms around them in a loving embrace. "I'm so proud of you girls. No matter what, we'll always be proud of you."

"Thanks, mom." They said softly, hugging her back.

"What are you waiting for? Get in there!" said Heather, shooing her daughters away.

"Okay, okay! Jeez, you'd think after all those things you said…" but the remainder of Ariele's words went lost on all of them as they headed towards the tall gates of the school.

"Come on, Heather, let's go." Said Amelia, putting a hand around her older sister's shoulders and guiding her back to the car.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

They walked through the tall, iron-wrought gates of the castle-like school and stared, slightly awed at the vision. There was a huge sign on the great oak doors of the building that read, in bold letters, 'WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF THE ARTS' in curly font.

They pulled open the doors to a warm, bustling environment. Everyone was moving around, making sure things were in order. It seemed as though everyone had something to do. Loud chattering filled their ears as they walked through the crown until they heard someone shouting:

"Audtioners, line up here!"

Lina and Ariele looked at each other with a grin before proceeding to the directed place.

"Hi." Greeted the girl. The first thing the girls noticed about her was that she was unnaturally beautiful – it seemed as though she gave out light. Her pale skin and her long, wavy dark brown hair, her kind hazel eyes and her gentle smile made her look extremely beautiful. She was wearing a button-up short-sleeved blouse tucked in her blue skirt. "Twins? That's super cool. We don't get a lot of twins here. They usually audition together, and someone is too nervous and goes off-key so we can't accept them."

Her voice sounded pretty, too. She had a soft, comforting tone.

"But I see you're auditioning separately." She picked up a clipboard from the messy table she was attending to and read their names. "I take it you are the Shepards? Welcome to Washington Arts. My name is Grace Johnson, and I'm the Student Head of the school. You guys are pretty impressive."

Grace squinted her eyes on the clipboard.

"It is rare for someone to impress Headmistress Delacroix or Deputy Kane so quickly in their first auditions." She looked at them with a smile.

"We didn't realise," said Lina honestly.

"Yeah, they don't really show if they like someone or not until you actually enter the school." Said Grace lightly. "But don't worry, if they select you, you're worthy of a spot in Washington Arts. And if you get a spot here, I'll be the one who gets to show you around!"

Grace sounded genuinely excited, and the twins smiled at her.

"I can't wait for that," said Ariele. "But first we have to audition."

"Right," said Grace, pulling out another piece of paper from the table. She handed it to them. "I'm not sure which one of you is which, but you'll sort it out. Adalina – "

"Lina," she corrected. "No one calls me Adalina except for my mum when she's angry."

"Lina," said Grace, smiling slightly. "Your audition starts in fifteen minutes. The Auditorium is where you'll be auditioning, but there's no one in there except for Headmistress Delacroix, Deputy Kane, Professor Lee – that's the singing teacher – and the pianist and band. Give that paper to the backstage crew, they'll give it to the three judges in there. The Auditorium is just down that hallway. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" they said together, walking to the direction where Grace had directed them.

"She's super pretty," said Lina once they were out of earshot.

"I know right!" sighed Ariele. "_And _she's so kind!"

"_Please _don't tell me you're talking about Grace Anne Johnson." A voice interrupted them once they reached the entrance of the auditorium. "That girl is _so _fake."

A black-haired girl who walked with a 'mean girl' posture strode towards them with a smirk. She wore high heeled boots with jeans, a flannel shirt and a fedora.

"And you are?" asked Ariele, crossing her arms and sizing the girl up.

"Karyn Ray. Oh, and by the way, they're saying that there's only two spots left to get into this school, and I'm taking one of them – which means that _one_ of you can kiss this school goodbye." She tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "'Cause there's no way they're _not _gonna let me in after they hear me sing."

The twins looked at each other in alarm. Did they _really _only have two spots left?

"Not confident, are we?" smirked Karyn. "But of course, who would be, when you're competing with me?"

Immediately, Lina's eyebrows raised and she looked at Karyn with a smile. A smile that so clearly said 'fuck you'. Ariele nodded discretely at Lina.

"Hey Karyn, how's the view up there? On your high horse?" said Lina, with the same smile. Karyn's smirk started to fade off her face. "I promise you that once you get down, you'll be able to see that we're just as talented as you _think _you are and when we get out of our auditions with a smile on our faces, you're gonna be just _half _the cocky girl you are right now."

Just before Karyn could come up with a comeback, the door to the Auditorium opened and a tall and lanky boy came out.

"Karyn Ray, you're up next." He called, beckoning her over.

She stood directly in front of Lina and said threateningly, "You're gonna regret the words that just came out of your mouth."

She turned on her boots and walked past the tall boy.

"Um… Adalina Shepard?" the boy asked, his eyes switching from Lina to Ariele. Lina stepped in front and smiled kindly at the boy. "Could you pass me your audition form?"

"Here." She passed the paper to him.

"Thanks," and he disappeared behind the wooden door.

"That bitch was really getting on my nerves." Said Ariele. "You should totally try smack-talking as a career. The way you handled her? Awesome!"

"Thanks." Said Lina. "But I'm pretty sure there's gonna be more people like her if we get into this school. What worried me most was that she said there was only two spots left."

"I don't think it's true." Said Ariele, shaking her head. "I heard a few people talking about it too, in the entrance hall, but I'm pretty sure they're just saying that to make the rest of the people auditioning step up their game."

"I hope you're right," said Lina softly. "'Cause if there's really only two spots left, it'll be really, _really _hard for us to convince the judges that we're worth those spots."

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"Adalina Shepard!" called the tall boy too soon.

She hugged her sister as Ariele said her good luck into her ear, and she entered the door, her heart racing inside her.

"It'll just take a moment." Said the boy. "I'm David Jenkins, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Said Lina pleasantly. "I'd tell you my name, but it looks as though you already know it."

Now, at a closer glance, she found that he was more handsome when she properly took a look at him – his soft green eyes and dark hair became much more attractive to her.

He laughed, and she smiled.

"You can help yourself to the snacks there," he pointed to a long table where an assortment of crackers, chips and dips were laid out.

"I'm really tempted, but I'll be singing soon so I don't think I should eat all those chips." She said, but then she headed to the table. "Maybe I'll just have plain water."

She grabbed a plastic cup and poured a suitable amount of water into the cup, sipping quietly. He watched her with a gleam in his eyes.

"Well, you're up in two minutes, so drink quickly." He said, apparently realising that he was staring at her and snapping out of it. He hesitated for a moment before smiling kindly at her, a smile which she returned. "Good luck."

He walked off.

Two minutes later, she walked on stage, her heart pounding in her chest, almost as if it was trying to escape her body by beating hard onto her ribcage. She held the microphone tightly in her sweaty hands and looked down as she walked to the centre of the stage.

In the middle of the Auditorium, a table was situated there, where three people were whispering quietly. To the very right, a handsome, blonde man sat, his dark blue eyes gleaming in the dark. He had a chiselled jaw and almost flawless skin, save for a tiny mole under his eye that Lina just caught. In the middle, a tall, redheaded woman with gentle features but a strict face sat straight-backed with an elegant posture. She looked entirely too young to be a Headmistress of an internationally-acclaimed school, yet there she was, looking not a day over thirty. Lina couldn't help but compare the Headmistress' hair to her family's – the Headmistress' had hair just a shade darker and wavier compared to the Shepards. Her green eyes and red painted lips contrasted sharply to her pale skin. Speaking of her eyes, they looked familiar. Where had she seen them before?

"Ms Adalina Shepard?" asked the man to the very left. He had a very smart look that suited his neatly combed hair and strict features, and Lina instantly understood that _he _was the one she was supposed to be impressing, even if the Headmistress and Deputy were there.

"Yes." She spoke into the mike, cringing noticeably when the mike let out a high-pitched, screeching sound.

"Okay." He wrote something on his file, and Lina's mind whirred with the possibilities of what he was writing. "You are auditioning for the Performing Arts and Theatre category, correct?"

"Yes." She said softly, trying to hold the mike in such a way that it wouldn't make the screeching sound again. Her hands clasped the microphone tightly in between her sweaty palms and she stood, straight backed, reminding herself to be confident.

"And your additional subject is Fashion Art." He had a critical element to his voice, and to Lina it sounded as if he everything he said was criticism.

"Yes." She said again. She felt like a broken tape, repeating the same word thrice.

"Alright." He passed the file to the Headmistress, who accepted it with a nod. "What are you singing for us today?"

"I'm singing 'Edge of Glory' by Lady Gaga." She said, finally letting out a confident smile.

However, her smile faltered when the three people exchanged looks of disgust and dubiousness, apparently already deciding that she wasn't worth listening to.

"Whenever you're ready." He said, sighing a bit and indicating she could begin.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, walking to the piano. She smiled at the pianist and he gave way to her. She fixed her microphone on the mic stand at the piano, trying to ignore the three pair of eyes at the centre of the room that were looking at her questioningly. She wiped her sweaty palms on the fabric of her skirt, trying to calm her beating heart down and keep her breathing in check. Finally, when she couldn't delay any longer, she placed her hands delicately on the piano and played the first chord. She took a deep breath and started singing.

_There ain't a reason you and me should be alone,_

_Tonight, yeah baby, tonight, yeah baby_

Her nervousness melted away as she started singing, getting lost in the music and trying to keep the feel of it. She forgot that she wasn't alone, forgot that the spotlight was on her. She might as well have been in her bedroom with Ariele, practicing her piano skills.

She was singing a slower, acoustic version of the upbeat song, turning it into a ballad. Her voice rang loud and clear as she sang into the microphone, making sure to keep her notes and volume in check, noting when to go louder and went to go soft. She carried every note without running out of breath, and she smiled and closed her eyes, entering her own world.

She didn't miss a note, beat or chord as her fingers swam across the keys of the grand piano and her voice sang in sync. She had been practicing towards this moment for so long – she was going to make sure that all that practice didn't go to waste.

She sang through the song as if it was nothing, and the time went by so fast that she was soon singing the last verse of the song.

She hit the last note, played the last chord and her voice decrescendo'ed to a stop as the song came to an end, and there was a moment of silence before the three professors in the centre of the room applauded hastily. She got up and bowed.

She noticed that only the Headmistress and Deputy was smiling – the singing professor seemed to think that he had seen better, for his face showed no sign of satisfaction or surprise. She tilted her head and waited.

"That was…" he paused and hesitated. "Commendable."

Lina scrunched her nose. Was she _that _bad?

"You will receive your reply on the 1st of August. Thank you, Ms Shepard." He said, turning back to the file and jotting down a few notes.

She recognised that as the sign of her dismissal and she hurried of stage, almost tripping as she flew down the steps in her hast to get out of the spotlight. She had initially thought that she had done great, but now, after what the professor said, she was doubting herself.

She ran backstage to put the microphone back to where she found it, and just as she turned to run off, she halted to a stop when David, the handsome boy from earlier, stopped her.

"Adalina! That was super cool!" he said, initially spreading his arms to hug her, but placing them at his sides when he thought it would be too awkward.

"Really?" she asked doubtfully. "Professor Lee didn't think so."

"He's always like that, you'll get used to it." He shrugged. "He's a tough guy to impress. You should see half the things he said to the people that came here. The fact that he only said 'commendable' to you, is a great achievement already."

"I hope so." She smiled at him. "By the way, please don't call me Adalina."

"Oh? So what do I call you?" he asked. "Addie?"

"Nice try," she let out a wry laugh. "But it's Lina."

"Hmm." He said, deep in thought. "I like Addie better. I'm gonna call you Addie."

Lina rolled her eyes.

"I guess I can't change your mind anymore, huh?"

"Nope."

"Okay then."

They stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter, then suddenly David stopped and hurried towards the door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" called Lina after him.

"Gotta call your sister! Her turn's next!"

He disappeared behind the door. Lina sighed, walking slowly towards the door just as David came back with Ariele behind him.

"Lina!" she ran toward her sister. "How was it?"

"I think I did pretty well. I mean, I'm not that sure." Shrugged Lina.

"Ariele, you're up in one minute." Said David, glancing at the clock behind them. "Good luck."

He smiled kindly at Ariele and turned to Lina with the same smile.

"I hope you guys get in," he said. "You guys are the humblest people that auditioned today."

He looked directly at Lina.

"I hope to see more of you," he said, smiling kindly as he walked away.

"Did he just – he hit on you!" said Ariele, whirring around to face Lina. "He _so _likes you!"

"We just met, Ariele. Don't be ridiculous." She said, but she sounded excited.

"You like him too."

"No." said Lina, unconvincingly. Ariele raised an eyebrow at her twin and Lina rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine – I like him just a _teensy tiny little bit._"

"I totally believe that." Said Ariele sarcastically.

A brawly tech guy appeared beside them and handed Ariele her microphone.

"You're up now." He said in his deep, gruff voice.

"Wish me luck." Said Ariele, crossing her fingers.

"Good luck!" she called to her twin as Ariele raced up the stairs onto the stage.

"You can't be in here." The tech guy said, and Lina glanced up at him.

"Oh, yeah, right – sorry." She headed towards the door. "I'll just – I'll just go now."

He watched her exit the Auditorium.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

Lina paced impatiently outside the Auditorium, anxious for her sister to finish auditioning. She had been waiting for Ariele for ten minutes now, and she couldn't wait another minute more.

Just as she thought that, the Auditorium door opened and Ariele came out.

"I don't think the Professor liked me." She said, looking a bit down.

"What did he say?"

"He said my performance was 'acceptable', then told me that I would receive my reply in August and thanked me." She said, looking a bit disappointed.

"Oh – apparently Professor Lee never gives compliments, so if he said that to you, you probably did really well." Assured Lina. "He told me my performance was 'commendable'."

A bit of hope shined into Ariele's face.

"Maybe we do have a shot at getting into this school." She said, looping her arm with Lina's.

"We definitely do."

**1 MONTH LATER, 1****ST**** AUGUST 2014**

**THE DAY THE TWINS REC EIVE THEIR LETTERS**

**THE SHEPARD MANSION**

"Honestly, if they don't wake up soon, I'll put their letters into the shredder." Cursed Heather.

They were preparing for a barbecue party at the Shepards' place, just to celebrate the twins' birthday and their results from their audition. Everyone was coming – Jethro, Ducky, Abby, the team and Dylan. They were to open their letters in private before announcing them to everyone.

The party was starting at noon, and it was already 11 o'clock – and yet, the twins weren't awake yet. Which was understandable, seeing as they had spent the entire night last night fretting about the letters and had only gone to sleep at six in the morning.

"They aren't up yet?" asked Jenny. "I'll go and wake them."

"It's alright, Jenny." Sighed Heather, placing down a plate of raw marinated chicken. "I'll go down there and see why they aren't up yet. Could you please put these on the table beside the barbecue pit?"

She indicated the several huge plates filled with steak, sausages, lamb, chicken and a variety of other food. Jenny nodded, starting to carry out the food two plates at a time.

Heather walked out the kitchen to the hallway, making her way to Jenny's study, which was as the very end of the hallway. She turned right into the study and stood in front of a bookcase to the right of the door, reaching her hand in to the middle shelf and feeling around for the hidden door knob. Once she felt the cold metal on her hand she grasped hard onto it, twisted and pulled the bookcase, revealing the basement – and the twin's bedroom.

"Girls?" she called softly, thinking they were sleeping. "Wake up, it's already eleven."

"Mom?" called a soft voice from beneath the blankets. "I don't want to see what the letters say."

"Ariele, it's okay. If you don't get in, then I won't go either." Said Lina's voice.

Heather frowned and walked into the room. Her sense of worry heightened when she saw Lina on Ariele's bed, stroking a huge lump covered by a bedsheet. She hurried down the stairs and pulled the covers, revealing Ariele, crouched in a foetus position.

Heather crouched beside the bed to look into her daughter's face. Ariele hid her face, but Heather could still see the tears falling down, even if she wasn't making a sound.

"Ariele, don't cry, sweetheart." Said Heather, taking Ariele's hand and stroking it lightly.

Lina continued the motion of stroking Ariele's hair.

"You don't have to worry about getting in or not. No matter what, you'll still be an extremely talented young lady. And frankly, if you don't get in, then that school's judgment shouldn't be trusted." Said Heather to Ariele.

"Ariele, nothing's gonna change. I promise." Said Lina. "You _will _be a singer. It doesn't matter if you get in or not."

"I just…" came Ariele's muffled voice. "I _really _wanna go there."

"I'll tell you what," said Lina. "I'll go get the letters, and we'll open them together. Right now. We'll tell each other our results, then we can share them. Don't cry, A."

"I'll leave you to it, then." Said Heather. She got up, and Ariele suddenly jumped on her mom, hugging her tightly. Heather steadied herself and hugged her daughter back.

"Thank you, mom."

"No problem, sweetheart." She said, looking at both of her beautiful daughters. "Good luck."

Lina raced up the stairs and ran out to the front lawn, opening the letter box and searching through the bunch of crap for a letter with their names. Finally, she found it at the bottom of the pile.

_Ms Adalina Shepard_

_Number 7, Georgetown Street, Washington, DC._

Finally, she thought. The letter was a little thicker than she had expected. She inspected hers and Ariele's, and realised that the only difference between their letters was who it was addressed to, which meant that they had both either been accepted or (Lina cringed as she thought this) denied into the school.

She tucked the letters carefully under her arm and went back into the house, ignoring everyone and heading straight for the bedroom. She did her usual routine of grasping the doorknob in between a few random books (she had done this so often she knew by heart the location of the doorknob and pushed the door open, stepping inside the air-conditioned room. She swung the door closed and locked it, waiting for the loud click to echo around the bedroom before turning to the stairs and walking down the stairs.

She walked towards Ariele, who had been sitting up straight and looking slightly pale and anxious.

"Here's yours." Said Lina, passing Ariele her letter. "Okay, we'll count to three, then we'll open them together, alright."

Ariele nodded, looking even paler.

"One," whispered Lina, her heart pounding in her chest as her fingers closed over the flap of the letter. "Two, three."

As she said 'three', both sisters slowly slid their index fingers under the flap and opened the letter. Their facial expressions were identical, both expecting the worst as they slid the contents of the letter onto their hands. They unfolded the first piece of paper of the stack and read it slowly, their hearts pounding so vigorously onto their ribcage it felt like it was trying to escape their bodies.

Ariele took a deep breath and started reading the letter. At the very top of the letter, the school crest was embedded in it. It was a huge, bold semibreve note with cursive writing across. Ariele squinted her eyes to make out the words, which she initially thought was written in English. Upon closer inspection, she realised that it was in French.

"'Ou seuls les meilleurs sont les bienvenus'" she muttered under her breath in perfect French. She knew it to mean 'Where Only The Best Are Welcome', and at those words, her heart pounded faster and even more vigorously. Was she considered part of the best?

She forced herself to continue reading the letter past the name of the Headmistress.

_**WASHINGTON SCHOOL OF THE ARTS**_

_Headmistress: Madam Lucienne Marie Delacroix_

_(3-time Academy Award-winning actress, 2-time Grammy-winning Songwriter, 2-timeTony-winning Broadway Performer)_

_Dear Ms Shepard,_

_We are pleased to inform you that your application has been accepted, and we welcome you to Washington School of the Arts. Please look to the list enclosed to get the items and books necessary for your chosen course, and of course, your assigned towers in which you will be spending your nights in school._

_Term begins on 1st September. Registration ends on no later than the 20th of August. We look forward to seeing you in our welcome ceremony._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Keegan Kane_

_Deputy Headmaster_

Her eyes widened as her brain took in what the letter said. She was in a state of surprise as she looked at her sister, who was still reading the letter, a similar expression on her face.

"Ariele," said Lina, her voice much deeper, as if she just suffered a terrible shock. "Does this letter say what my brain thinks it says?"

They exchanged letters, and upon confirming their letters were exactly the same, they stared at one another in utter shock before hugging each other tightly and bursting into tears of joy.

"Oh my God, Ariele, WE DID IT!" screamed Lina, and the twins were glad that the basement was soundproof so that their screaming and squealing didn't ruin the surprise for everyone in the house.

"I can't believe we're actually going there!" shouted Ariele into her sister's ear, hugging her tightly.

They smiled and laughed uncontrollably as the mood shifted from the morning. They started giggling for no apparent reason, the joy of being accepted into the school that they had wanted for so long actually making them feel overwhelmed with euphoria.

"Hey Lina, wait." Said Ariele, a devious smile on her face. "What if we switched it up a bit?"

"Hmm?" asked Lina, not quite getting what her sister was thinking.

"About telling them!" said Ariele impatiently. "What do you think if we…"

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"What do you think is going on down there?" asked Heather worriedly, her constant glances towards the bedroom keeping her distracted from her current job.

"Why?" asked Jenny, unloading a tray of potatoes. "What are they doing?"

"I saw Lina running into the house with a thick package under her arm." Said Amelia, walking into the kitchen by the back door. "Think they got their letters?"

"Yeah, definitely." Nodded Heather. "They decided to do it earlier and together, instead of separately like their original plan."

"I'm pretty sure they did fine." Assured Jade, walking in behind Amelia. "Lucienne Marie Delacroix is the Head of WSA, remember? She used to be in the same year as me. Very quiet, didn't really have that much friends. Only talked when necessary."

"_Lucy_ is the Head of WSA?" asked Jenny in disbelief. "She used to be the President of our school choir! She's one of my closest seniors!"

"_What?"_ asked Heather, surprised at this new revelation. "Why hasn't this come up before? How did you know her?"

"One of my after-school activities was choir, remember? Lucy heard me singing by the lockers and forced me to join choir! We lost contact after she graduated, though." Said Jenny sadly. "She was really fun."

"I still can't believe that you knew her and didn't tell us." Said Jade.

"_Me?" _asked Jenny, looking at her sister with an indignant expression on her face. "Excuse me, _you _were in the same year as her!"

"Yeah, but we weren't that close, remember?" retorted Jade. "The way you put it, it sounded like you guys were _bosom buddies _to me."

Jenny rolled her eyes. They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"They're early!" hissed Heather, hurriedly walking to the front door, her sisters following closely behind her.

She wrenched open the door and came face-to-face with Dylan and Jethro, talking as if they had known each other their whole lives. They came to share a close brotherly bond after meeting each other for the first time two months ago.

"Dylan! Jethro!" said Heather, her eyes swivelling from man to man. "You guys are early."

She stepped aside to welcome them.

"You guys came together?" asked Jenny, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"We decided that we could help you ladies out before the rest comes." Said Dylan in his charming voice, with his charming smile.

"Ever so thoughtful." Said Heather, pressing a soft kiss to Dylan's lips. "Come on! There's still a lot of things we haven't prepared."

As Heather led Dylan, Jade and Amelia into the kitchen, Jenny and Jethro stood staring at each other, until Amelia poked her head into the hallway.

"Coming, guys?" she asked.

"Just a moment." Said Jenny. "We'll be out there in a second."

"Alright," said Amelia, casting one last glance at her sister before disappearing.

Jenny turned back to Jethro, her eyes twinkling a bright green as she examined him. They hadn't seen each other in two weeks, because apparently homicides peaked and budget meetings were set at this time of the year, preventing them from having any type of communication except for good morning and goodnight text messages.

She took a step forward and placed her hands on his chest, closing her eyes and sighing in relief as her hands caressed his hard muscles over his t-shirt. She leaned in and pressed her forehead on his shoulder, sliding her arms around his neck. His arms wrapped themselves tightly around her waist, wrapping her in the warm embraced she had missed so terribly for the past two weeks.

"_God, _I've missed you." Muttered Jenny into his ear. "I love you so much."

"I love you more." He whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. He held her as tightly as he could without crushing her and buried his nose in her hair. "I've missed you like crazy."

They stayed like that, locked in a tight embrace for a few minutes before deciding to go out to the back. They interlaced their fingers and clasped the other's hand tightly within theirs as they walked out the kitchen into the back lawn.

* * *

I know this epilogue is a bit longer than my actual chapters, but I was hoping to give you guys a sneak peek of what I'm planning to write as a non-fanfiction type of story.

And you guys really didn't think I was gonna write a chapter without some Jibbs, did you?

Anyways, leave your thoughts in a review! The next update will be for On The Job, so stay tuned for that one!

\- Natalia


	14. Epilogue: Part 2

Author's Note: Hi ya'll! I can't believe I'm updating this quickly, but my muse just wouldn't leave me alone and I decided to just let my fingers do the work. I really hope that you guys like this chapter, it's the end of the entire story (though maybe I'll do a couple of oneshots in this universe), so for now, you guys'll have to bid goodbye to Jade, Amelia, Heather and the twins!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NCIS**

**ENJOY!**

* * *

(Continued from previous chapter)

The team arrived together with Ducky and Abby at precisely 11.30, and together they helped set up the barbecue party, everyone talking loudly and laughing merrily as they carried plates of steak, hamburgers, sausages and an assortment of other things onto the back lawn. They looked like a regular, happy family preparing for a special family occasion. But two members of their family were missing – the youngest of the batch were in their room, smiling deviously and hatching up a plan that was sure to make their mom have heart failure.

Once twelve o'clock struck, and the barbecue pit was in place and lighted, with a few sausages on top and Dylan and Jethro manning the grill while everyone else helped themselves to the drinks, Lina and Ariele appeared, looking with red and puffy eyes. They stayed in the kitchen until Lina was brave enough to call out for her mom.

"Mom?" she called out, managing to make her voice sound broken. Everyone's heads turned towards her, and immediately everyone exchanged looks of worry.

Heather gave her sisters a look full of worry before hurrying to the kitchen and closing the back door.

Ariele went straight for her mom, crying onto her shoulder. Lina wordlessly gave her their letters.

Heather read placed them on the kitchen counter side by side, now convinced that they were going to say the usual 'we are sorry to inform you…' in the beginning of the letters. But, reading the letters at the same time, they were a 'we are pleased to inform you…' letters.

"Adalina and Ariele Shepard you better not have been tricking me –"

But Ariele had suddenly moved out of her mother's arms, drying her fake tear on the neckline of her t-shirt. The twins were wearing the same, identical grins on their faces as their mom read their acceptance letter.

Heather just stood there silently, re-reading the letters even though she knew exactly what they were saying. Her eyes averted from one letter to another, and she confirmed that they were saying exactly the same thing – which mean that _they were accepted._

"Girls, I'm so proud of you!" squealed Heather, wrapping both of them in a bear hug.

But it suddenly occurred to her that it also meant that they had almost gave her a heart attack for nothing –

"But what were you thinking?" her voice took a loud turn, and now she was shouting at them. "You almost gave me a heart attack, making me think that you hadn't been accepted and that you were emotional – I swear to God, if you do that _one more time_, I will lock you up in your basement and make sure you miss your registration date!"

The twins just stood there, wearing slightly ashamed expressions on their now extremely non-teary eyed faces. Silently though, they knew that their mom was proud of them.

"Now I want you to get your highly annoying asses on that back lawn and tell everybody the good news." She stalked out, as if it didn't matter that they had been accepted into the most prestigious arts school in DC.

Once their mom disappeared into the lawn, they looked at each other and grinned, high-fiving.

"I think we should've signed up for acting instead. Your performance – golden!" said Ariele with a laugh.

"Yeah, of course." Said Lina flipping her hair. Ariele rolled her eyes and laughed. "But the way you reached for mom and cried on her shoulder! That wasn't even planned – amazing. Fantastic. A plus for us!"

They high-fived again and went out into the back lawn, where they met the face of their irate mom and amused friends and family. They grinned at them, sure that they already knew their results.

"We got in." they announced together, in the most non-dramatic way possible.

They were met with cheers and congratulations, and they thanked everyone as everyone got back to chatting with one another. As the twins laughed along with the team, Dylan turned to Jethro.

"You still going to do it?" asked Dylan softly, though he didn't need to be – the others were so loud, it was impossible for any of them to overhear what they were saying. "Not afraid that it's gonna steal the twins' thunder?"

"I don't think they'll mind." Replied Jethro, turning over the sausages on the barbecue. "They've been asking me when I'll do it for a while now."

Dylan nodded.

"Good luck," he said, even though he knew Jethro didn't need it – they both loved each other so much, she was sure to say yes in a heartbeat.

"Thanks." Then, to turn the subject onto Dylan, he asked with a teasing tone, "When are _you_ gonna pop the question to Heather?"

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"Dinner?" Jethro asked Jenny a few hours later, after the barbecue party had died down and everyone else except Dylan and him had left already.

"Jethro," laughed Jenny. "We just spent the last how many hours eating and now you want to go for dinner? Are you ever full?"

"Okay then, how about a walk? Just the two of us?" he asked her. He didn't really have a plan – he just wanted to go with the flow.

Jenny looked at him and smiled. To hell with the others – she hadn't spent time with her boyfriend in two weeks. They could manage a few hours on their own.

As Jenny got up from her spot on the couch, Jethro caught Dylan's eye and smiled at him. Dylan nodded his head at him and Jethro nodded back before following Jenny to the front door, where she was waiting for him.

"Let's go." He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her out the door.

"Anything interesting in the past two weeks?" he asked her, as they walked down the street towards the park and a small row of shops.

"Budget meetings, anti-terrorism conferences, joint undercover operations between NCIS and FBI," Jenny checked off the list on her fingers. "I managed to get a bigger budget for this year. I'm thinking I should upgrade the monitors in Cyber. Or in Abby's lab. Or both."

"You got _that _much money?" asked Jethro in disbelief.

"I had to put up a good fight with Homeland Security." Shrugged Jenny, then she grinned at him. "Turns out, Director Johnson doesn't like women in power positions. But, I got more than I anticipated. Mostly by insulting the entire agency than just the Director."

Jethro laughed. _That _was Jenny.

"How about you?" she asked, as they turned left into the park. "Any interesting cases in the past two weeks."

"Mostly open-and-shut." He said. "But there was one case – there was a Petty Officer that was murdered while she was at a family party. Mum, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and her fifteen-year-niece was there."

"How did she die?" she asked curiously.

"Poisoned. Someone slipped cyanide in her drink and she died within minutes." He said. "Her family became suspects, but we narrowed it down to just the victim's sister and brother-in-law."

"What was the motive?"

"That was something we didn't have. We had evidence, and everything pointed to both of them, but we just didn't have the motive. Even after interrogation they didn't break." He said.

"And what happened to their daughter?" she asked him, leaning her head on his shoulder as they walked.

"She helped. The couple was fighting like cats and dogs, according to her. She said that they're only staying together for her sake, and that she knew that they had stopped loving each other a long time ago." He smiled, remembering the kind-faced fifteen-year-old that helped a lot with their case. "She suggested we put them in the same interrogation room and leave them alone. We did – and after a while they started shouting at each other, and they both confessed to killing the Petty Officer while trying to pin the murder on the other person."

"They hated each other _that _much so they killed an innocent person and tried to frame each other for it?" asked Jenny in disbelief. "And their daughter?"

"With her grandparents." He said.

"What's her name?"

"Vivian."

She smiled – that was a beautiful name. They continued walking in silence, holding hands. It was so nice to just spend time with each other, even if they weren't talking about anything. They were almost done with their walk when Jethro suddenly stopped, and Jenny realised that he had led them where they were hidden from other people in the park – it was a circle of flowers surrounding them, and just a single path where they had entered from.

As she admired the flowers around them, he was starting to sweat – he suddenly wished he had something special planned for them, for her – and was considering postponing proposing to her when she turned to him and kissing him softly, placing a delicate hand on his neck. His mind was made up – he couldn't wait any longer for her to be his – officially his, and he couldn't wait to put a ring on her left hand. He wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and kissed her back, making her dizzy with his kisses.

"Jen, I love you." He said, holding her face gently in his calloused hands. She sighed contentedly, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Feeling tingles where his lips touched her head, she said softly, "I love you too."

"I want to be with you." He said to her, with a serious expression on her face.

She was slightly surprised that Jethro was talking to her like this, but she had to admit that she liked it.

Jethro, meanwhile, was trying to concentrate on how to put what he felt in words. Every time he saw her, it made his day brighter and every time he smiled it made him weak in the knees. He loved everything about her, and he just wanted her to be his, and everything else would be fine.

"I want to – I want you to be mine." He said softly, looking in her eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet ring box without her noticing.

"I _am _yours, Jethro." She was getting slightly worried now. What was happening to him?

"Not officially." He shook his head. She frowned, her brain whirring in her head. There was only one possible option why he was saying all this to her, but she didn't want to get her hopes up – "I want to marry you."

She was right.

She didn't gasp in surprise, nor did her eyes well up in tears. She simply smiled, a happy, foolish smile as she watched the man she loved for so long get down on one knee in front of her. He held out a blue ring box in his hands, and he opened it, revealing the beautiful gem that laid inside it.

Nestled snugly in between the blue velvet cushion in the box, was the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. It was a beautiful oval shaped diamond with two smaller diamonds on other side of it. Her smile widened, and he sighed in relief – at least he had done something right.

"Jen, will you marry me – please?" he added, in hopes of it raising his chances of getting married with her.

She laughed at the way he phrased his question, and, feeling the tears well up in her eyes, she sniffed softly and said, "Of course."

He smiled, a smile that was so big it almost split his face into two, a smile that made her all the more happier that she had said yes. He took the ring out of its velvet casing and slipped it slowly onto her finger, and she sighed contentedly for the second time as she admired the gem on her hand. The band was two flat silver metals twisted across one another, continuing until the band met the diamonds. She liked to think that it signified their two lives intertwining.

He snapped the box shut and got up as he placed the box back into his pocket.

"You like it?" he asked, holding her left hand.

She nodded happily.

"It's perfect. You're perfect." She said, wrapping her arms around him. She pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. "I can't believe I'm gonna be the next Mrs. Gibbs."

"And the last." He promised.

"I better be." She said sternly, before laughing. "Is that why you were spending so much time with Dylan at the party? Did he know?"

"Told him first." He nodded. "No one else but me and him knew."

"So _that's _why you guys acted so shady." She said softly. "Come on, let's go home."

She made to walk out of the beautiful circle of flowers when he reached out, grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What's the rush?" he asked her. "I wanna spend time with you here."

She smiled, leaning in to kiss him. She placed her hands on his chest, deepening the kiss. His arms wrapped tightly around her waist and pulled her closer. Her hands slid up behind his neck and intertwined while his hands gripped her hair tightly. Their passion increased as their kiss lengthened, and soon they were devouring each other, giving each other fierce, heated and sensual kiss.

Once they pulled away, they held each other tightly.

"God, I love you so much, Jen." He said, stroking her hair lightly and pressing a kiss onto her head.

"I love you – more than you know."

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

When they reached home, it was almost half an hour later, as they had taken their time strolling back. He held her left hand the entire way, loving the feel of the cold metal against his hand. He still couldn't believe he had successfully proposed to the most beautiful woman in the world.

She couldn't wait to tell her sisters, and she couldn't wait to see their reactions. So, as she and Jethro walked past the front door into the house, they headed straight for the living room. Everyone was still there, and they realised, looking at the clock, that they had been gone for almost one and a half hours. The twins were singing with Heather while Dylan played the piano. Jade and Amelia were watching and occasionally taking sips of their wine as they chatted together, watching the happy family.

"Where do you think Jenny and Jethro went?" asked Amelia. "They've been gone for a while now."

"To paradise and back." Said Jade, a smirk on her face.

Amelia laughed, and Jenny looked at her in surprise. She usually didn't approve of Jade's sexual jokes. Jade, however, thought it was perfectly normal, and laughed along with her sister.

"He _did_ take me to paradise, just not the one you're thinking about." Said Jenny from behind them.

They swivelled around, chocking on their wine and spluttering.

Dylan caught Jethro's eyes and glanced at Jenny's left ring finger. He smiled when he saw the band there, nodding at him in congratulations as he continued playing the piano. He nodded back his thanks, and went to stand next Jenny.

"What other paradise could there – "asked Jade, before she was interrupted by Heather, who had stopped singing.

"Oh. My. God." She said, immediately going over to Jenny. Lina and Ariele stopped singing, slightly confused with what was going on, until Lina caught something glinting on her aunt's finger.

"Uncle Gibbs proposed to Aunt Jenny!" she whispered in her twin's ear, and they grinned at each other, hopping off the piano and hurrying over to their aunts and mom.

"Is _that _a _ring_?" squealed Heather. "Are you – did he – did you – "

Jenny and Jethro nodded, and before Heather could say anything, Amelia pounced on Jenny and gave her a bear hug.

"Congratulations, Jenny!" she said loudly, and Jade swooped in, wrapping her arms around the two of them and hugging them affectionately.

"I'm so happy for you! That's so great!" she said happily, no trace of the sarcastic person she normally was.

"You're getting married!" said Heather, wrapping all three of them in a sisterly hug. "My baby sister is getting married!"

At this point, they were hugging Jenny so tightly that she was almost turning blue, and Jethro spoke up.

"If you continue hugging her like that, I might never get to marry her." He said teasingly.

"You _finally _asked!" said Heather, as they all let go of Jenny and Jethro wrapped an arm around his fiancé. "We all placed bets – who won? I think it was the twins, I'm not really sure."

"Wait a minute, I'll go get the list. It's in my purse." Said Jade, standing up and going to the kitchen to retrieve her purse.

"You made _bets _on when Jethro would propose to me?" asked Jenny in disbelief.

"What? You think we would just _wait _and not bet on it?" said Amelia. "How long have you known us?"

Jenny shook her head.

"Can you imagine what will happen when we tell the team tomorrow?" Jethro whispered in her ear.

"Ducky will win the bet." Said Jenny immediately.

"Nah, Ziva will." Said Jethro confidently.

"Wanna bet?" she asked, smiling deviously. He returned the same smile. "Twenty dollars, and the loser has to buy coffee for a week."

"No problem." He agreed.

They went silent when they realised that Heather, Amelia and the twins were staring at them. They all scoffed.

"_Double standards_." Said Amelia, rolling her eyes lightly.

"Hey, this is different."

"Yeah, sure." Replied Heather sarcastically.

"Anyway," piped up Lina, stepping in front with Ariele. "We just wanted to congratulate you two."

"It was only a matter of time anyway." Said Ariele, smiling brightly at them. "Even the blind can see that you guys are _so _in love."

"Thanks, girls." Said Jenny softly. "I see all three of us have something to celebrate today."

They hugged briefly before they turned to Jethro.

"We look forward to you being our official uncle." Said Ariele.

"I mean, we _have _to sing at your wedding first, of course." Said Lina. Ariele nodded in agreement.

"Whoa whoa whoa," said Jenny. "We _just _got engaged. Don't you think it's a little early to start planning the wedding?"

"No." said both of them in unison. They wore a look of surprise on their faces.

"Didn't you know that we already prepared a set list like, the _day _we met Uncle Gibbs?" said Lina.

Jenny and Jethro shared a look. Before they could reply, Jade came back with the list.

"You were right Heather – the twins won." She announced. She took the collected money from her purse and presented them with the money.

"WOOHOO!" shouted Ariele, waving the money in the air.

"Jade, can I see the list?" asked Jenny softly, not wanting to interrupt the twins celebrating.

It was written in Amelia's beautifully cursive handwriting.

_THE BET ON WHEN JENNY GETS ENGAGED._

_Jade ($20) – 28 October (Jenny's birthday)_

_Heather ($20) – Early October_

_Amelia ($20) – Christmas_

_Dylan ($20) – 4__th__ of July_

_Lina &amp; Ariele ($20) – Early August_

She noticed that Dylan's name was struck – they all made valid guesses, except for the twins and Heather. _Like mother, like daughters, _she thought, smirking slightly.

"I can't believe we won." Laughed Lina, high-fiving her sister.

"Today is _definitely _a good day." Said Ariele, clutching the hundred dollars as the adults looked at them, shaking their heads.

Jenny grinned at them, looking up at Jethro. He smiled at her and planted a sweet kiss on her lips.

"Wanna stay the night?" she asked. "At yours of course."

"Really?" he asked, surprised – normally she preferred him staying over. "I thought you wanted to stay over to celebrate."

"Yeah, but I wanted a bit of _privacy _tonight." She whispered seductively, fingering the top button of his shirt. She leaned up and whispered what she wanted to do to him, smiling when she pulled back and noticed that his eyes had gone all dark.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

"I do." The words left her mouth before she even noticed he had asked – she had waited for this moment for _so long_. An entire year had passed since he proposed to her in the park.

Her sisters, Ziva and Abby were standing beside her in their beautiful dresses. Amelia was her Maid of Honour – Jenny had told them to sort it out themselves, since she refused to choose between the three of them. And since Amelia was the closest to Jenny, they agreed that she was the suitable option for Maid of Honour.

Amelia was wearing a red sweetheart neckline dress with broad straps that reached her knees, and a rose in her hair that was tied in a side bun. On her collarbone was a neckline with a small ruby that matched the colour of her high-heeled red shoes.

Next to her was Heather, in the exact same dress as Amelia, only the colour was a dark green that contrasted beautifully with her pale complexion. A green carnation was in her hair that she wore in the same style as Amelia. On her neck was an emerald that matched perfectly with her green stilettos.

Jade was next, in a deep purple dress. She wore an amethyst necklace and a purple balloon flower in her hair, which she wore down. Her feet were encased in purple high-heeled shoes.

Ziva stood next to Jade in a beautiful bright blue version of the dress, with a sapphire glinting on her neck. She wore a blue starflower in her brown hair which she wore in a half-tied fashion, the rest of her hair going in waves down her back.

After much negotiation, Abby stood in the black version of the bridesmaid dress, and she wore a black rose in her hair that she had worn down for once. She had borrowed Jenny's black stilettos even though she didn't want to (Jenny forced her or she wouldn't be allowed to wear black and wear yellow like the original plan). She wore a black opal on her neck.

McGee, Tony and the twins were sitting in the front row. The twins had been their flower girls, and they had agreed to let them sing in their reception. They wore identical magenta strapless dresses with a pleated skirts and a rose of a darker shape on the waist of their dress. The dress came down to their knees. They styled their hairs in a bun, with a few strands sticking out and framing their faces. On their heads were flower crowns made of pure white roses sat comfortably. They watched the ceremony with a huge smile on their faces.

Mike was best man, and Ducky had given Jenny away. They both wore suits that made Mike look sharp and Ducky look well – more gentlemanly than usual. Mike had stuck to the more common tie while Ducky wore his usual bow tie.

The bride and the groom turned to each other, leaning in to kiss for the first time as husband and wife. He captured her lips possessively and sensually, letting his lips linger much longer than necessary.

"You're beautiful, Jen." He whispered in her ear softly. She blushed.

Her dress was a pure white, strapless dress that laced up in the back. At her waist the fabric bunched up beautifully that was held by a silver metal flower. It had a cute sweetheart neckline and a slit at her thigh, her skirt flowing elegantly and creating a not-so-long train behind her. Her hair had grown longer since he had proposed, and it now went slightly past her waist it long, delicate waves. She wore a small purple orchid in her hair that matched the colour of his tie.

"You look wonderful too." She said, admiring him in his suit and tie.

They linked arms and walked down the aisle as husband and wife, and they left to get ready for the reception that was to take place at a hotel.

~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~ NCIS ~ JIBBS ~

After all the speeches, it was time for their first dance as husband and wife, the twins appeared on stage.

"A few months ago," said Lina into the mic, and immediately all eyes were trained on them on stage. "I heard Aunt Jen singing this song on the piano."

"Uncle Jethro was right behind her, and she hadn't realised that until the song ended." Continued Ariele, smirking at her aunt. Jenny glared at her before she hid her face in Jethro's shoulder. "And after that, they disappeared for several hours."

The crowd laugh as the couple started to regret their decision.

"So, Aunt Jenny and Uncle Gibbs, we invite you to share your first dance with a song that so perfectly describes your relationship." Said Lina, as Ariele nodded at the band to get ready.

The band started to play the intro of 'Amazed' by Lonestar. Lina sang the first verse softly, watching the couple in front of them slow dance to the song.

_Every time you touch me  
I can feel how much you love me  
It's almost more than I can take_

The couple danced, Jethro in his suit, Jenny in a shorter version of her dress. Her hands around his neck, his arms around her waist, they moved slowly to the music.

"I can't believe I'm your wife." Said Jenny tenderly to Jethro.

"I can," he said softly to her. "I've been waiting for this for a year. But seeing you walk down that aisle, the wait was so worth it."

"I love you… so much." She said softly.

He smiled, just about to say his usual 'more than you know' when he remembered what she had said to him, the day she had been released from the hospital after the entire 'Katherine' affair.

"I'll love you till the day after forever."

* * *

The End! I loved writing this story, it was so many ups and downs with my writing schedule and stuff, I hope you guys find the ending satisfactory. I chose not to write the entire reception, I hope you guys don't mind, but it seemed a bit repetitive to me.

Anyway, my next update will be for On The Job, so please go check that out. Also, I have two new stories and I'd really like your input: The Break and I Won't Let You Go. For their brief summaries, go check out my profile. I was wondering which I should post first? What do you guys think?

Please leave a review!

\- Natalia


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